Many years ago, a young and very successful business executive named Josh was travelling down a Chicago neighbourhood street. He was going a bit too fast in his sleek, black, 12-cylinder E-Type Jaguar. He was watching for kids darting out from between the cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no child darted out, but a brick sailed through the air and – smashed into the Jag’s shiny black side door!

SCREECH…!!! Brakes slammed! Gears ground into reverse, and tires madly spun the Jaguar back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown. Josh jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid and pushed him up against a parked car.

He shouted at the kid, “What was that all about! Just what the heck are you doing?!” Building up a head of steam, he went on. “That’s my very expensive Jag, that brick you threw is gonna cost me a lot of money! What were you thinking?!!!”

“Please, mister, please…I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do!”, pleaded the youngster. “I threw the brick because no one else would stop!” Tears were dripping off the boy’s chin as he pointed around the parked car. “It’s my brother, mister,” he said. “He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t lift him up.”

Sobbing, the boy asked the executive, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”

Moved beyond words, the young executive tried desperately to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be OK. He then walked alongside the younger brother as he pushed the wheelchair down the sidewalk to their home.

It was a long walk back to the sleek, black, shining, 12-cylinder Jaguar – a long and slow walk. Josh never did fix the side door of the Jaguar. He kept the dent to remind him not to live his life in a way that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention.