A Fable for You

Let me tell you a story...

Once upon a time, there was a group of folk who wanted to find the best person to be the mayor of their tiny town, a small black and white town. They looked high and low for that person. They looked up and down. They looked this way and that way. Wherever they looked, they just couldn't seem to find the person they wanted to lead them.

Then one day, they heard about a fella, a tall fella, who they heard from someone would be a very good person for the job. They called him and said, "We think you would be a very good person for the job. Please come and meet with us so we can know for sure." So, the fella went to meet with them. They talked. He talked. They talked. He talked. At the end of the conversation, they liked him and he liked them. And they asked him to be their mayor.

But then something dawned on the fella. He asked them if they had spoken with the whole town about exactly what they were looking for? Surprised, the people looked at one another and discovered that no, they had not talked with anyone. They believed that what they wanted, everyone wanted.

So the fella asked if those who wanted him would ask the townsfolk what they wanted. The fella, you see, was somewhat different from other fellas and he knew it. While he was a handsome and friendly fella, he was also a very colorful fella. And knowing the town was very "black and white," he thought it best to make sure the townsfolk wouldn't mind having someone of his hue.

And lo and behold, when the few of them asked everyone else, they learned that the townfolk didn't want the fella. However, not everyone in the town thought a fella of many hues was a bad thing, especially the leader of the group that asked the fella in the first place. He and the fella thought about it together and seeing how the fella didn't want to create too much of a confusion or make the black and white town folk too nervous, the fella agreed with the townsfolk and withdrew his name from further consideration (also knowing that even if some of the townsfolk really really wanted him, the ones who didn't want him would cause a lot of unrest for everyone). When the fella told this to the leader of the group, he was sad but he understood.

And the black and white town went back looking for a leader to lead them in their tiny town of black and white townfolk. Only this time, the tiny town of black and white townfolk and those who went about looking for their new mayor all knew exactly what they were looking for.. or at least, they knew they didn't want a colorful person.

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The moral to this story is that it always helps to know what you want before you go looking for it. It'll save time, energy, and whole heck of a lot of confusion.

THE END