Think Out Of The Box...

Many years ago, somewhere in a small village, a farmer had the misfortune Of owing a large sum of money to a village moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the farmer's beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the farmer's debt if he could marry his daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal.

So the cunning money-lender suggested that they let LUCK decide the matter.
He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. Then the girl would Have to pick one pebble from the bag.

1) If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father's debt would be forgiven.

2) If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven.

3) But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into Jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer's field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag.

Now, imagine that you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her?

Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.(Her father will be thrown in jail.)

2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money-lender as a cheat.(But the money will still be owed.)

3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order To save her father from his debt and imprisonment.(Girl will have to marry the cruel lender.)

Take a moment to ponder over the story. The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking. Think of the consequences if she chooses the above logical answers.

What would you recommend to the Girl to do?

GIVE UP?

Well, here is what she did ....

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path Where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

"Oh, how clumsy of me," she said. "But never mind, if you look into the Bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked."

Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the money-lender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Most complex problems do have a solution. If only we Think Logically and Out of the Box...

How To Make A Baby

The Smiths were unable to conceive children and
decided to use a surrogate father to start their
family. On the day the proxy father was to arrive,
Mr. Smith kissed his wife. Jo, goodbye and said,
'Well, I'm off now. The man should be here soon.'


Half an hour later, just by chance, a door-to-door
baby photographer happened to ring the doorbell,
hoping to make a sale. 'Good morning, Ma'am', he
said, 'I've come to...'


'Oh, no need to explain,' Jo cut in, embarrassed,
'I've been expecting you.'


'Have you really?' said the photographer. 'Well,
that's good. Did you know babies are my
specialty?'


'Well that's what my husband and I had hoped.
Please come in and have a seat'.


After a moment she asked, blushing, 'Well, where
do we start?'


'Leave everything to me. I usually try two in the
bathtub, one on the couch, and perhaps a couple on
the bed. And sometimes the living room floor is
fun. You can really spread out there.'


'Bathtub, living room floor? No wonder it didn't
work out for Harry and me!'


'Well, Ma'am, none of us can guarantee a good one
every time. But if we try several different
positions and I shoot from six or seven angles,
I'm sure you'll be pleased with the results.'


'My, that's a lot!', gasped Jo.


'Ma'am, in my line of work a man has to take his
time. I'd love to be In and out in five minutes,
but I'm sure you'd be disappointed with that.'


'Don't I know it,' said Jo quietly.


The photographer opened his briefcase and pulled
out a portfolio of his baby pictures. 'This was
done on the top of a bus,' he said.


'Oh, my word!' Jo exclaimed, grasping at her
throat.


'And these twins turned out exceptionally well -
when you consider their mother was so difficult to
work with.'


'She was difficult?' asked Jo.


'Yes, I'm afraid so. I finally had to take her to
the park to get the job done right. People were
crowding around four and five deep to get a good
look'


'Four and five deep?' said Jo, her eyes wide with
amazement.


'Yes', the photographer replied. 'And for more
than three hours, too.
The mother was constantly squealing and yelling -
I could hardly concentrate, and when darkness
approached I had to rush my shots.
Finally, when the squirrels began nibbling on my
equipment, I just had to pack it all in.'


Jo leaned forward. 'Do you mean they actually
chewed on your, uh...equipment?'


'It's true, Ma'am, yes.. Well, if you're ready,
I'll set-up my tripod and we can get to work right
away.'


'Tripod?'


'Oh yes, Ma'am. I need to use a tripod to rest my
Canon on. It's much too big to be held in the hand
for very long.'


Mrs. Smith fainted.....