Anecdotes About Honesty

Usually, when I come up with an idea for a newsletter, I can take one anecdote or concept and develop it. However, in trying to write this one, I kept thinking about three stories that seemed unrelated. In addition, one was humorous, another was unusual and the last was didactic. I finally realized that they all had honesty for a main theme, so they were similar after all. Here’s the first story.

My neighbor and I spend at least an hour a week together, and we share stories about our lives. Since we’re both seniors we have a lot in common. We discuss politics, family, and gardening among other things. He recently told me a story about his mother that I found hysterical, so I thought I would share it. When she was alive, his mother always complained that her health problems were the worst. For example, if someone was tired, she was exhausted. If someone said they had stomach problems, hers were worse. If anyone had a headache, hers were more severe. You get the idea. Anyway, once my neighbor’s uncle said he was having prostate problems and his mother said her prostate was worse! I thought that was funny, and it revealed that his mother always complained about health issues even if she didn’t have them.

The next story is quite unusual. About a month ago my wife, Donna, and I went to a psychic fair, and I thought it would be fun to go to a medium, just to see if I could contact a deceased relative. I have always been open minded about it, so I thought I’d try a session. I paid my forty-five dollars, and then the medium told me about what she did and then explained her methods. I already knew about this from books I’ve read, but I listened to her anyway. Finally, she came up with information that was irrelevant to me, and after my half hour was up, she wasn’t able to contact anyone. All I could think of the whole time was that she was scamming me, and I had wasted my money. But then she completely surprised me by giving me my money back! She said she couldn’t charge me because she was unsuccessful in helping me. I was flabbergasted and relieved! It turned out that I wasn’t being taken advantage of at all.

The third anecdote is actually a story about honesty that I have read about several times. In the story, a mother is walking through a bazaar with her child on her back. As they are walking, the child steals an orange from someone who is passing by selling fruit. The mother then lavishly praises the child for his cleverness in not getting caught, and the child is very happy. When the child becomes an adult, he becomes a thief and actually murders someone. He is sentence to death, and he is given one last request. He asks that his mother come to visit him. When she does, he beats her and exclaims that if she hadn’t praised him for stealing, he wouldn’t be facing death. The story’s theme about honesty is exaggerated for sure, but still describes a valuable lesson about raising children.

I hope you enjoyed my stories about honesty. As I mentioned, I was surprised to see that they were all related even though, at first, they didn’t seem to have anything in common. Have a great day and I’ll see you next week.

(Please remember these are my own ideas, and I’m not attempting to persuade anyone to change theirs.)

Quotes:

"No legacy is so rich as honesty." - William Shakespeare

"If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything." - Mark Twain

"A half truth is a whole lie." - Yiddish Proverb

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