There seems to be a lot of commenters here saying Johnny is playing the long con. Whereas I don’t entirely disagree, I think they are missing the point of the story. The point is not just that Johnny’s life improved from below average to average. The other point is that Maria’s life improved from average to above average. At an age where many Americans are retiring and spending their days trying to stay busy, Maria is traveling to Africa and working with aspiring artists. Maria took what could have been a financially crippling event and used it to launch herself into a new endeavor. She’s taking her passion for art and helping others pursue a similar passion in a climate where they may not normally have that luxury.

Regardless of whether Johnny is still conning her, Maria’s life is now better because of it. She took a situation that would normally make a person critical and suspect of others and decided to learn from it and become a better person. My take away from this story is that bad things will happen to me. Some will be my fault and some won’t. However, how I react to it will make all the difference. Sometimes it is better to light a candle than to simply curse the darkness.