It was a beautiful summer day when Doug the tortoise decided to walk down to the pond to enjoy his lunch.

"I can't wait to enjoy this crispy lettuce next to the pond!" he exclaimed as he grabbed the lettuce.

He started out with his lettuce in mouth and slowly made his way to the pond nearby.

When Doug arrived at the pond he looked into the water from the edge of the pond. Doug often wondered what sorts of things could be in the water. As he glanced into the water in the pond a turtle swam up to the surface of the pond and bit into the lettuce that Doug carried in his mouth. Doug's lettuce fell into the water below with a plop.

Doug quickly shot into his shell from unexpected surprise.

"Hey!", Doug exclaimed, "Why did you do that? Give me back my lunch you thief!"

The lettuce continued to sink into the water before Doug as the turtle swam away from him.

The turtle began to swim to a nearby rock and slowly climbed up on it. He began to laugh once at the top.

"I scared you good when I sneaked up on you! My name is Vincent, what is your name stranger?" Vincent called out to Doug.

"My name is Doug," Doug shouted to him, "and you stole my lunch!"

"I did no such thing," Vincent called back, "I just ripped it out of your mouth. You are free to jump in the water to retrieve it."

"I can't do that!" Doug protested.

"What do you mean you can't do that?" Vincent teased. "I didn't move it from where it sank. It is right in from of you!"

Doug started to feel embarrassed to admit what he had to say next.

"I can't swim," Doug mumbled.

"What did you say? Speak up!" Vincent called to Doug.

"I said I cannot swim!" Doug shouted back. "If I tried to get my lettuce back I would drown in the water!"

Vincent let out a laugh. "What are you? Crazy? Of course you can swim! Just jump into the water silly."

Doug again protested and quickly left the pond very upset about what had transpired. Vincent was quite puzzled that this creature that looked much like him seemed so scared of drowning in the pond. Vincent and his family lived in the pond and they were never at risk of drowning. Vincent decided at ask his family about it later that day.

"Hey dad? Mom? I had this really weird experience today," Vincent began. "I found this other turtle by the side of the pond with this big piece of lettuce. I sneaked up on him and pulled the lettuce into the water, but he just became upset with me and refused to enter the water. He said he couldn't swim which sounds very strange to me. I thought all turtles like us could swim?"

"Well," Vincent's father began, "it sounds to me like this was not a turtle. I believe you encountered a tortoise and not a turtle. Tortoise cannot swim like we can."

"Your father is right," Vincent's mother began, "if this tortoise had tried to retrieve his lettuce he could have drown in the pond. I know you meant well, but his death would have been an indirect consequence of your actions."

"Vincent,", Vincent's father began, "you have an obligation as a citizen in our ecosystem to ensure that no one gets hurt in our pond."

"And a key point in any proper community is love and concern for your neighbor, kindness towards others which includes people you do not know, and compassion for those who are different from you. " Vincent's mother added.

"I didn't know what I was doing was wrong," Vincent said, "I was just trying to be funny and make a new friend. I didn't mean to upset Doug. What should I do now?"

"I think that a good place to start would be to make a reparation to this tortoise. You hurt his feelings and cost him his lunch. I think you should try and find out where he lives and do something to make it up to him." Vincent's mother replied.