“Johnny, I thought you would have set a better example for your friend. And Billy, I thought you had been raised better to know not to break the law. What if a policeman had caught you two drinking beer? What would I have told your mother? Don’t you see how you were jeopardizing your whole summer and the chance to come back here again? I think you boys both need a chat with me in the basement. And then you will both be going to bed early? Do you understand me?”
“Mom, please, can’t you ground me or something?”
“Would you really prefer to be grounded for a week, Johnny? Would you? And what about you, Billy? I’m willing to ground you both for this but it would have to be for a week.”
Once again the boys looked at each other and resumed staring at the carpet. Clearly a week of grounding was much worse than a chat in the basement.