there once lived a boy and his wealthy father, an owner of a massive window production company, in a wealthy town in a wealthy region of a wealthy country. It was the boys 14th birthday soon and the father, who spoiled his child rotten, had no idea what he get him. So, he went to his son and asked him
“Son, it is your birthday soon, what would you like for your birthday?”
The son replied “oh father, I have everything that I could ever need! But I do have one request. A pink ping pong ball.”
The father, puzzled, agrees, and for he boys birthday, he receives a pink ping pong ball. The son, delighted, takes it into his room for the night. And the ball is never seen again. The father is curious, but decides not to say anything, as it is not his problem. If his son wants another one, he just must ask. But he never did.
The sons fifteenth birthday approached, and the father, once again, caught up with work, did not take note of what his son wanted. He decided to once again ask him directly.
“Son, it is your birthday soon, what would you like for your birthday?”
The son replied “oh father, I have everything that I could ever need! But I do have one request. A container of 10 pink ping pong balls.”
This peaks the fathers curiosity. “If it is 10 pink ping pong balls you want, then it is 10 pink ping pong balls you shall have.” The son woke up the next morning and opened his present and was overjoyed to see 10 pink ping pong balls. That night, he took the pink ping pong balls into his room, and they were never seen again. The father noticed this, but once again decided that he did not need to ask his son. It didn’t concern him.
The sons 16th birthday arrived and the dad made arrangements for a brand new Ferrari for his son to be delivered. But the father also, as it was becoming a sort of tradition by this point, asked his son:
“Son, it is your birthday soon, what would you like for your birthday?”
The son replied “oh father, I have everything that I could ever need! But I do have one request. A carton full of pink ping pong balls.”
Now the father was really interested. Where did the other balls go? Why does he want more? But it was not his place to ask. Perhaps he had a good reason for them. On his birthday, the son saw the Ferrari and was pleased, but not as pleased as when he saw the carton of pink ping pong balls inside. He drove the car around for a while, ate lunch with his wonderful father, watched a movie, and after he went back home for the night, took the carton with him. The following day, when the son went back to school, the dad looked in the sons room. There, on his bed, was an empty carton of pink ping pong balls. The dad shut the door, but could not stop thinking about them when he went to work.
Fast forward to the sons 17th birthday. The son had, by now, picked up a wonderful job at a local grocery store. His boss loved him, his coworkers loved him and the customers loved him. The father, proud of the responsibility his boy has shown, asks him once again:
“Son, it is your birthday soon, what would you like for your birthday?”
The son replied “oh father, I have everything that I could ever need! But I do have one request. A warehouse full of pink ping pong balls.”
“...”
“A warehouse?”
“Yes father, a warehouse!”
“Full of these pink ping pong balls?”
“Yes father!”
The father was astounded. This boy of his has been obsessed with these balls for 4 years. But he would not stop now. The father agreed to assemble a warehouse full of these pink ping pong balls for his son, which was possible mostly due to the fact that he had begun buying large shares in the pink ping pong ball industry after his sons 16th birthday.
The following evening he drove his son to his new warehouse. The son, amazed at his father’s ability to live up to his request, thanks him profusely, gives his father a great big hug, and tells him he will spend the night at the warehouse with his new ping pong balls.
The following morning, the father drove to pick up his son, and found that the warehouse containers which were all previously full of ping pong balls were now completely empty. They had vanished over the night! The son rode back, and they did not share a word the whole ride back.
A few months later, on his way back from work, the son got into a terrible car crash. He flew through his front windshield and was hospitalized. The father rushed to the hospital, with a gift he knew his son would love: a carton full of pink ping pong balls. The son, though in pain, and weak, sat up at the sight of the carton. The two talked at length, until at last the father said
“Son, it is getting late. I must go back to my workplace to see what progress my workers have made today. I will leave you with this overnight, if you promise me something. No matter how deep, dark, or horrifying the secret is, I must know: what do you do with these ping pong balls?”
The son nodded, and said “I will tell you tomorrow, father, I promise.”
The father, wracked with grief and sorrow, left his son for the night. When he returned the next day, sleepless, he saw the carton was empty. He asked his son
“Son, you must tell me, what do you do with these pink ping pong balls?”
The son, weakly, replied “yes, I knew... you would say that... I use... i... I...”
The son laid back, and the monitor began beeping rapidly. The nurses took him into surgery, and the father stayed all day and night at the hospital waiting for news on his son. But the news he received was not what he wanted. With a heavy heart, he wept into his hands for his late son.
I guess that’s why they call it window pain.
