Trevor was 12 years old, had troubles at home but always looked up to his grandpa, Ringo. Ringo had been thrown on a ship in Africa as a infant. The slaves working the fields of Alabama were Ringo’s only family. He learned at the age of 5 that working hard was one sure way to get by in life. Around the time Ringo was 22 the ranches that housed the slaves started falling apart, he was one of the first to sneak off in the middle of the night. But now the former cotton picking slave was a grandfather, ran a local house cleaning service, and would make occasional trips to the city to visit with friends he had met while working the fields.
Ringo would take Trevor to work with him, cleaning houses. Ringo always taught Trevor the importance of hard work. Trevor learned that if you give your customers satisfactory service they will keep having you back to clean and the word will spread to their friends. Trevor started paying really close attention to Ringo’s work ethic and attention to detail, but also started noticing that his grandpa would take something from every house they cleaned, sometimes it was a pile of change or a can of soda, but sometimes it was jewelry or cash. Trevor confronted Ringo about his dirty tricks. Ringo explained that sometimes, only after working your hardest, you deserve more than you get, so you just have to even it out yourself. Trevor could not understand why Ringo would take jobs that didn’t pay a satisfactory amount up front without the theft.