A Modern Fable - Innate Goodness Vs Transcient Friends

I have to thank at least six people for my entry into the world of blogging - firstly my two sisters, Edrea in Zurich and Edwina in Singapore; then a dear friend Sharon in Singapore; and also by a quirky accident I happened to watch on Alzajeera Network last Saturday when Paulo Coelho was interviewed on "One to One" when he announced that he had just started blogging; and then a rather famous Dr M. who had just started his personal blog on 1st May. The deciding point (or as you'd say the straw that broke the camel's back) came from a very good friend named Peter Ting!

That's the reason I'm now here blogging away.

My mother (who's going to be 80 come December 6th this year) but won't be able to know the difference as she's now reached her end-stage of the deadly Alzeihmer's Disease,having suffered from it for the past 10 years; would have encouraged me into this field...but may have cautioned me to thread lightly....for alas, at precisely the same time that cyberspace arrived , her memory-cells had departed from her.

I have an interesting moral tale as my first blog entry.

A very good friend of mine told me a true story which had transpired recently and over which he still cannot get over from, himself being a pretty straight-forward regular kind of guy being generous, intelligent and all that. He is extremely well off, well to do with no pretences and nobody to impress upon and who doesn't owe the world a living or have a chip on his shoulder....that sort of guy.

In his course of doing business and being on the receiving end of many reciprocal benefits, a generous travel agent gave him a "carte blanche" invitation for 10 of his friends/business associates free round-trip cruise holidays (all paid for) onboard a luxurious cruise ship (worth at least a couple of thousand dollars each); and for which he happily accepted.

He then invited 9 of his closest and best friends.

These are friends whom he had liked and known for quite a number of years, people whom he had either socialised with frequently or had interacted with in the course of doing business.

Within a couple of days he was barraged with queries like:

"Hey, what's the deal? Do I need to do something for you?"

"What's the catch,Pete? There must be a catch to this invitation! Do I have to do you a favour in return?"

"Sorry pal, I've got better things to do. Are you sure it's for free?"

"Are you sure it's legit? It's worth 2k each ticket?? No nonsense?"

He accepted the skepticism and the negative responses...but not to the extent that EVERYONE of his invited guests virtually didn't believe or didn't accept his very genuine invitation at its face value.

And these are guys whom he think he's known well and had believed were among his closest and best friends!

The moral of the story?

1) Why bother doing a good friend a favour? He thinks there's a catch.

2) Are your friends really your friends? They've known you so long yet they disbelieve a generous and genuine offer or invitation from you.

3) Accept the reality - nobody expects a freebie, not even from a close friend. They expect a "payback" for something good.

4) You might as well sell off the free tickets at half the market price, then you'd probably get more grateful friends that way!

For me, after having been told of this, I reckon it's a lesson in life, at least in this part of the world.... learned the hard way.

Take care.

Oogamy