An old man sat at the airport one night, waiting for several hours for his flight. He bought a book and a pack of biscuits to pass the time. He found a place and sat, reading. A young boy came to sit next to him. With no concern whatsoever, the boy stretched out his hand and began eating from the pack of biscuits between them. Not wanting to make a fuss, the old man decided to ignore it.
The old man, slightly bothered, watched the clock and continued eating from the biscuits as well. Every time he ate a biscuit the boy had one too. The boy broke the last biscuit in half, ate one piece and offered the other to the old man He then left. The old man thought to himself, What an insolent fellow! He ate my biscuits without asking and then didn’t even thank me!
The old man’s plane was boarding and he settled in looking for his book. While looking in his bag he was amazed to find his pack of biscuits nearly intact. With a terrible feeling he realised that the boy had actually shared his biscuits with him! The old man had been insolent.
This highlights the lesson that at times we engage in disputes, convinced we are correct whereas in actual fact the other person might have been right. At other times we are quick to judge people. We need to start giving people the benefit of the doubt, we need to reflect upon our own shortcomings instead of wasting time picking on other people’s assumed faults.
THE PACK OF BISCUITS
