$4 OR $50

One of my surrogate grandchildren from next door won a prize at her school for attaining a perfect 4.0 GPA.  When I heard about this from her grandparents, as they were climbing into the car to attend the ceremony, I sprinted into the house and retrieved a couple of two dollar bills that I had found in the back of one of the dressers in my dad's bedroom.

"Tell her 4 bucks for a perfect 4," I said, handing them over.

A few days later there was a knock on the door.  It was my granddaughter and her impossibly cute little sister.

"Thank you for the 4 dollars," she said.  "And I'm sorry about your father."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about your father, too," the little one chimed in.

I knew this would happen.  And it isn't why I gave her the money - that impulse came from a good place inside me.  She may have come up with the visit on her own and she may have gotten a little nudge and reminder from her no-bullshit grandparents.  It doesn't matter a whit to me which is which - the deal is she did it.

A few days later I got an email from a relative who was volunteering for a charitable cause.  I never hear from this very good child unless money is involved.  There is never a personal note attached, either - I'm just included in a string of names on a mini-mass emailing.  I gave $50.  It's a charity that I approve of and I'm happy this kid is volunteering.  When I clicked on "Donate" it showed me that she had raised the grand total of $75 from everyone else.  Maybe it was early in the process and the money was starting to flow in.  Maybe.  I have not heard a word of thanks from her yet.  And this isn't why I gave her the money, either. 

Need I say that one of these families doesn't have any extra money and one does?  Care to guess which is which?