In America, young men and women are allowed to learn to drive at the age of 16. It’s an enormous turning point in any young person’s life. Being able to drive gives you a new-found freedom. It can also give you independence. So 16-year-old Allan Gieger III was especially pleased when his mother and father purchased a car for him when he passed his driving test. The car was a Ford Explorer like the one in the header of this page.
His parents had intended him to use the car to drive to school, and to work once he found a job. They thought it would give Allan a good start in life – a start that was much better than their own.
Sadly, Allan did not see it quite the same way as his parents. He could not wait to pick up his friends and drive around the neighbourhood showing off his good fortune. His parents felt very disappointed and believed that their son was not showing them enough respect. They tried to speak to him about it, but the sixteen-year-old chose to ignore their protests.
So not long after Allan had received the car, he was very surprised and shocked to see that its picture appeared on a website that sold cars. Next to the photo was the following text:
“I have my son’s car for sale. I bought it for him as his first car. He thinks it’s cool to drive around with his friends acting tough. I don’t think he shows my wife and I the respect we deserve. My son chose to throw it all away because he prefers his friends to have a stronger influence over him than me.”
Allan could hardly believe what he saw. He also found out that his father would agree to give a discount on the sale price of the car to any buyer who lived in the same area as Allan. His father felt that if Allan saw someone else driving the car from time to time it would remind him of how good he had once had it.
It was reported that his father was able to sell the car within two hours and now Allan is carless. The father also received a number of phone calls from other parents congratulating him on what he had done.
Allan was very upset at first, but when he saw how many phone calls his father received from other parents he began to reflect on his own actions.
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