There
was a man who sold hot dogs by the roadside. He was illiterate, so he never
read newspapers. He was hard of hearing,
so he never listened to the radio. His eyes were weak, so he never watched
television. But enthusiastically, he sold lots of hot dogs. His sales and
profits went up. He ordered more meat and got himself a bigger and better
stove. As his business was growing, the son, who had recently graduated from
college, joined his father. Then something strange happened. The son asked,
"Dad, aren't you aware of the great recession that is coming our
way?" The father replied, "No, but tell me about it". The son
said, "The international situation is terrible. The domestic situation is
even worse. We should be prepared for the coming bad times". The man
thought that since his son had been to college, read the papers and listened to
the radio, he ought to know and his advice should be taken seriously. So the
next day, the father cut down his order for the meat and buns, took down the
signs and was no longer as enthusiastic. Very soon, fewer and fewer people
bothered to stop at his hot dog stand. And his sales started going down
rapidly. The father said to his son, "Son, you are right. We are in the
middle of a recession. I am glad you warned me ahead of time". What is the
moral of this story? Many times we confuse intelligence with good judgment. A
person may have high intelligence but poor judgment. Choose your advisers
carefully, but use your own judgment. Our expectations can create a
self-fulfilling prophecy.
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TLF
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