wilkes

That was decades before Andy Griffith lost his way.

When a hobo told Andy he should just let Opie "decide for himself" how he wanted to live... He had these words of Mayberry
wisdom. "No, I'm afraid it don't work that way. You
can't let a young'n decide for himself. He'll grab at the first flashy thing with shiny ribbons on it. Then, when he finds
out there's a hook in it, it's too late. Wrong ideas come packaged with so much glitter that it's hard to convince them that other things might be better in
the long run. All a parent can do is say 'Wait' and 'Trust me' and try to keep
temptation away."