Steve attended the same high school at which Brother Christianson taught. Brother Christianson had a long standing policy of taking any student that had been thrown out of another class as long as the student would abide by his rules. Steve had been kicked out of his sixth period and no other teacher wanted him, so he began attending Brother Christianson's class. Steve was told that he could not be late, so he always arrived just seconds before the bell rang and always sat in the back of the room. He was also the first to leave after the class was over.

One day, after class, Brother Christianson pulled Steve aside and said, "You think you're pretty tough, don't you?"

Steve's answer was, "Yeah, I do."

Then Brother Christianson asked, "How many push-ups can you do?"

Steve said, "I do about 200 every night."

"200? That's pretty good, Steve," Brother Christianson said. "Do you think you could do 300?"

Steve replied, "I don't know... I've never done 300 at a time."

"Do you think you could?" Brother Christianson asked again.

"Well, I can try," said Steve.

"Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I need you to do 300 in sets of 10 for my plan to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it," Brother Christianson said.

Steve said, "Well... I think I can... yeah, I can do it."

Brother Christianson said, "Good! I need you to do this on Friday."

Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room. When class started, Brother Christianson pulled out a box of donuts. They were large donuts, with frosting and sprinkles and nuts. Everyone was excited. Brother Christianson went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want a donut?"

Cynthia said, "Yes."

Brother Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do 10 push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?"

Steve said, "Sure," and jumped down from his desk to do a quick 10. Then Steve again sat in his desk. Brother Christianson put a donut on Cynthia's desk. Brother Christianson then went to Joe, the next person, and asked, "Joe do you want a donut?"

Joe said, "Yes."

Brother Christianson asked, "Steve would you do 10 push-ups so Joe can have a donut?" Steve did 10 push-ups, Joe got a donut. And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did 10 pushups for every person before they got their donut. And down the second aisle, till Brother Christianson came to Scott. When Brother Christianson asked, "Scott do you want a donut?" Now Scott was an athletic guy, and he didn't want Steve doing pushups that he himself could do just so he could get a donut. Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups?"

Brother Christianson said, "No, Steve has to do them." Then Scott said, "Well, I don't want one then."

Brother Christianson then turned to Steve and asked "Steve, would you do 10 pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?" Steve started to do 10 pushups. Scott said, "HEY! I said I didn't want one!" Brother Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it." And he put a donut on Scott's desk.

Steve began to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow. Brother Christianson started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get anxious. Brother Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?"

Jenny said, "No."

Then Brother Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do 10 pushups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?" Steve did 10, Jenny got a donut.

By now, there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks. Steve was also having to really put forth a lot of effort to get these pushups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved.

Brother Christianson started down the fourth row.

By now, the donuts and the fact that Steve was obviously doing a lot of push-ups started to attract other students into the room. They sat along the heaters along the side of the room. When Brother Christianson realized this, he re-counted and found 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.

Brother Christianson went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set. Steve asked Brother Christianson, "Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?" Brother Christianson thought for a moment, "Well, they're your pushups. You can do them any way that you want." And Brother Christianson went on.

A few moments later, Jason came to the door and was about to come in when all the students yelled, "NO! Don't come in! Stay out!" Jason didn't know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, "No, let him come." Brother Christianson said, "You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do 10 pushups for him."

Steve said, "Yes, let him come in."

Brother Christianson said, "Okay, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now. Jason, do you want a donut?"

"Yes."

"Steve, will you do 10 pushups so that Jason can have a donut?" Steve did 10 pushups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down. Brother Christianson finished the fourth row, then started on those seated on the heaters. Steve's arms were now shaking with each pushup in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. Sweat was dropping off of his face and, by this time, there was not a dry eye in the room.

Brother Christianson approached to last two students in the room. Brother Christianson asked Linda, the second to last, "Linda, do you want a doughnut?"

Linda said, very sadly, "No, thank you."

Brother Christianson asked Steve, "Steve, would you do 10 pushups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?" Grunting from the effort, Steve did 10 very slow pushups for Linda. Then Brother Christianson turned to the last girl, Susan. "Susan, do you want a donut?"

Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked, "Brother Christianson, can I help him?" Brother Christianson, with tears of his own, said, "No, he has to do it alone. Steve, would you do 10 pushups so Susan can have a donut?" As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.