Reading a book, I found this great story, which made me laugh, but at the same time reflect on its meaning. And is very true, especially in the Help Desk environment, if you try to please everyone without following the rules, you will likely lose your ass, as these two gentlemen did. Read on.

The Man, his boy, and the Donkey

A man and his son were going with their donkey to the Market. As they were walking along the donkey’s side, a countryman passed them and said “You fools! What is a donkey but for you to ride upon?”

So the man put the boy on the donkey and they went on their way. But soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said “see that lazy youngster; he lets his father walk while he rides.”

So the man ordered his boy to get off, and got on himself. But they hadn’t gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the other, “shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son trudge along.”

Well, the man didn’t know what to do, but at last he took his boy up with him on the donkey. By this time they had come to the town, and the passerby began to jeer and point at them. The man stopped and asked what they were scoffing at. The men said, “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor donkey of yours-you and your hulking son?”

The man and the boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and thought, till at last they cut down a pole, and tied the donkey’s feet to it, and raised the pole and the donkey to their shoulders. They went alone amid the laughter of all who met them till they came to a market bridge, when the donkey, getting one of its feet loose, kicked out and caused the boy to drop his end of the pole. In the struggle, the donkey fell over the bridge and, his forefeet being tied together, he drowned.

“That will teach you,” said an old man who had followed them.

The moral: please all and you will please none.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 20th, 2007 at 5:19 pm and is filed under Random. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.