As zero hour approaches...

Color me flabbergasted (I think that's close to puce, maybe mauve) at the response to an invitation sent out on my behalf for a going away luncheon. Here I thought that assuming a position ("Hands on the wall, Sir!") in security would simply succeed in alienating my coworkers, as I have seen in other arenas. Today you could've knocked me over with a feather from the shock of hearing that the lunch filled up and people turned away due to space requirements. Truly, I am touched at the sentiment, especially since it was unexpected. My wish would be to make it so that anyone that wanted to see me off at the luncheon would be able to, of course... I also have a story about trying to please everyone...

And since I haven't posted in a while... I'll rewrite a story I've seen before. I didn't know it's actual source until now, since it felt wrong to post something I knew was not mine.

You Can't Please Everyone

From Aesop's Fables: The Man, The Boy, and The Donkey

A man and his son were once going with their Donkey to market. As they were walking along by its side a countryman passed them and said: "You fools, what is a Donkey for but 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 before him on the Donkey. By this time they had come to the town, and the passersby 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 Boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and they thought, till at last they cut down a pole, tied the Donkey's feet to it, and raised the pole and the Donkey to their shoulders. They went along amid the laughter of all who met them till they came to Market Bridge, when the Donkey, getting one of his 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 fore-feet being tied together, he was drowned.

"That will teach you," said an old man who had followed them:

"Please all, and you will please none."

An excellent story! I have long been a fan of Aesop's Fables and the sometimes strikingly deep lessons they present in a simple manner. Of course... I read the moral of the story in a slightly differently... my take is:
"If you try to please everyone, you can kiss your ass goodbye."

Cheers until tomorrow (or so) when I post about... "The End of an Era".
(It's NOT about an empty bottle of laundry detergent!)