In Paris, I was in charge of the household expenditures and purchases and would make a list of the items that we required. I would then present it to the Imam who would disburse the amount after which I would go to the market to buy them. Whatever amount that remained I would keep as petty cash.
One day I went into the Imam’s presence and told him that I wanted to buy such and such items and the total would add up to this amount. When I mentioned the total amount the Imam stated: “You have made a mistake in the total.” I rechecked the list and added up the amount again and insisted that the total amount was correct. The Imam said nothing and simply gave me the amount I asked for and went to the market and purchased the required items. After I had finished shopping I found that I had extra money left on me and after rechecking came to know that I had made a mistake in the total and had mentioned an item that was of 9 francs as 90 Francs. So I went to the Imam and told him of the error and of the extra money I had left on me. He stated: “I came to know (of the error) right in the morning but wanted you to figure it out for yourself.”
This indeed is a very fine and subtle point. Had the Imam insisted in the morning that he was right, I would have felt that I was not being trusted by the household and that would have made me apathetic and indifferent. However, when he showed he had confidence in me by keeping silent, it made relations to become so much more cordial.
Name of the narrator: Marziyeh Hadidchi
Title of the Book: Impressions and Memoirs about Imam Khomeini's Practical Behaviour, vol. 1, chapter one, page 81