A Parable

A few years ago, I read this parable in the Manila Bulletin that really stood in my mind, even until now. The parable was a powerful message for me... I hope it's the same for you too.

Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/issues/2004/03/10/OPED200403104423.html

The parable of the sweetest fruits

THE town had become famous for its variety of fruits. But more important than the wide range of choices was the quality. There was no doubt that the place had the sweetest fruits.

They had suha (pomelo), chico, lanzones, rambutan, mangostein, mango, and lanka (jackfruit), among others. Apart from having the sweetest fruits, no fruits of poor quality could be chanced upon in any fruit stall.

People from other towns and provinces took the trouble of coming for the sole purpose (dinadayo) of buying the sweetest fruits. In other markets, saying that a fruit being sold originated from this town was a sure guarantee of its sweetness.

Many came to buy seedlings of their fruit trees. Grafted types sold well thus providing extra income for the fruit farmers.

One question often asked by visitors was always left unanswered. The farmers refused to respond as though unwilling to reveal a secret. The question was why all the fruits in that particular town were sweet.

At first, visitors thought there was some big secret. But later, the farmers truthfully admitted that they were not sure. Experts studied the soil and water in the area as well as the fruit-farming methods and noted nothing special.

One day an enterprising visitor thought he had a means to find out. He believed that the middle-aged farmers really did not know let alone the younger generation. But he felt that the older inhabitants must know something or could provide some background.

He was soon able to track down the oldest man in the barrio and, true enough, he had the answer.

The frail man explained, "Many years ago, this whole town and all the surrounding areas were owned by a single landowner. He happened to be a greedy man. In addition to his lion�s share of the harvests of rice and vegetables, he also unilaterally decreed that every single fruit tree be taxed. The levy was an enormous amount.

"So high that unless a fruit tree yielded quality fruits, it was not worth maintaining. The tax would eat up all the income which was small in the first place if the tree�s fruits were of poor quality.

"In order to survive, the farmers deliberately cut down all the inferior fruit trees and retained only the known sweet-bearing fruit trees. This continued and, over time, the good fruit trees interbred and proliferated. And the natural selection gave rise to only the sweetest of fruits.

Farewell, my 20s!

Farewell, my roaring twenties! I'm finally growing up... or so I think.

I think I've heard it more than enough that 30 is the new 20. God, I HOPE NOT!

When I was 20, was struggling college and work, had less than a dime to my name, spent a year eating my weight in BK Whoppers, and relied on the kindness of older folk to buy my booze. I don't think I'd want to go back to that.

There is nothing certain in life (except, as they say, death and taxes), and I agree. I never knew I'd be where I am today. I had imagined so many different things--marriage, ministry, or madness. I settled for none of them.

That's okay, because now in these final days of my 20s, I've learned I have gained something more valuable than I could imagine. I have learned to be true to myself.

The boy I was at 20 was shy, naive, and feeling hardly competent to take on the challenges of the world. Now, a few days towards turning 30, I am still part of that, but now I am feel a little more wiser.

The Demise of Customer Service

Call me self-centered and old-fashioned, but I miss the days when I could go through a check-out line and the cashier or sales clerk focused on ME and made ME the center of the world.

Now, I'm lucky if I can get through a line and get a simple "hello" or a smile.

No, today's it's more common for me to come across some kid talkin' all their "Bizz-ness" on their cell phone.

"What he say?!?"

"Ah, no he didn'!! You tell 'is stinky ass 'at ya ain't takin' that sh** no mo!"

In her mind, she pays no attention to my evil eye as she drags my Kashi bars across the scanner. The tapping of my left foot grows louder as one hand rests on my hip and the other fiddles with my tie. She can carry on a conversation in warp speed about last night's drama at the hooka bar, but my mocha ice cream is in a melted mush and my grapes begin to ferment into wine because she's too darn slow to scan and sack my groceries. What's worse... the woman doesn't even bother to look up when my order is complete. She continues her chat on the phone as she waits for me to swipe my debit card.

And there it is in a moment. Another face-to-face transaction without any face-to-face interaction.

What has this come too?!?

Now, we can go to many stores and not even require any interaction with a cashier. The minimum wage worker is being successfully outsourced to a machine at do-it-yourself check out lanes. They're especially common in the store that talks a lot about rolling back prices.

Maybe they oughta roll back my bill for making me scan and sack my own groceries.

The Fortune Cookie That Proved to Be

I wouldn't call myself overly supersitious, but today's events unfolded right in line with a simple message I got from a fortune cookie last week.

After a delicious meal at the Bamboo House with colleagues last Friday, I got my fortune cookie with a simple message that read, "Opportunity awaits you next Monday."

Wow, I thought. That's funny because I've been thinking about new opportunities lately.

Fast forward to today, Monday. At lunch, I was called back into the office to talk to the president of the foundation where I work. There was a position that needed to be temporarily filled with our commission and they wanted to tap me for it. The person who does it now was needed to work on a special project for a few months and the commission turned to the foundation to support it.

So, I have a new opportunity at hand which I accepted, moving me away from the program I'd been working for the last year. Trust me, I had long been ready to move on.

It's amazing that all this happened after the little messsage from the fortune cookie. Now, I just have to play the lucky numbers on the back.