A story of an egg seller that teaches the bitter
reality of our society
An old man was selling eggs on the street. A woman
got out of her car came to him and asked him “how much do you sell eggs?” the
lady asked. The old salesman replied: “$0.50 an egg, mam. She said, “I’m going
to take six eggs for $2.5 or I’m going.” The old seller replied: “buy them at
the price you want, ma’am.” May be its a good start for me because I couldn’t
sell a single egg today and I need to live” She bought her eggs at price and
left with the feeling she won.
She entered her elegant car and went an elegant
restaurant with her friend. She and her friend ordered what they wanted. They
ate a little and left a lot of what they asked for. They paid the check. It was
$400. The ladies gave $500 and asked owner of the restaurant to keep the money
as a tip.
The story might seem pretty normal to the owner
of the luxury restaurant. But very unfair to the egg vendor. Why do we always
act strong when we buy from the poor? And why are we generous with those who
don’t need our generosity?
Once I heard about my father: “My father used to buy
simple goods from poor people at great price, even if he didn’t need them. Sometimes
he used to pay more of them. I wondered about that and asked him why he did it?
Then my father replied, “It’s an act of charity wrapped with dignity”.
Spend money to make character
but don’t spend character to make money.
In the bible Jesus was telling a parable where we
supposed to be generous.
“For the kingdom of heaven is
like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his
vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius[a] for the day and sent them into
his vineyard.
“About nine in the morning he
went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told
them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is
right.’ So, they went.
“He went out again about noon and
about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. About five in the
afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them,
‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
“‘Because no one has hired us,’
they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go
and work in my vineyard.’
“When evening came, the owner of
the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages,
beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
“The workers who were hired about
five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. So, when those came
who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also
received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the
landowner. ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and
you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the
heat of the day.’
“But he answered one of them, ‘I
am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius?
Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I
gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are
you envious because I am generous?’
“So, the last will be first, and
the first will be last.”
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