Old Cheung was sitting on his front porch when he noticed his house was on fire. He ran inside to retrieve his children who were asleep on the second floor. Moments later, Cheung re-emerged with two of his three sons.
“What happened to little Mickey?” asked the neighbors.
“There wasn’t enough time for the third,” said Cheung.
But there clearly was – the fire started in the basement and hadn’t yet spread to the rest of the house.
“Go back in to get Mickey, old Cheung,” the neighbors urged.
“I’ve already made up my mind,” the father stood his ground. “Besides, Mickey hasn’t been a very good son compared to my other two.”
An intense discussion among the neighbors ensued, as the crowd debated Cheung’s assessment of his youngest child. While many found Mickey energetic and intelligent, others concurred with Cheung that the boy didn’t quite measure up to his brothers.