Arguing about Nothing

There was a lawyer who soon after he was married started to plan his future with his wife. The husband said he planned to have a son and to educate him well so he would become an outstanding lawyer and continue the family business. The wife had other ideas. She said she’d like the boy to be a great scientist or doctor because her parents were in the medical profession. The two continued to disagree and started to argue and shout at one another.

Just as they were about to come to blows a holy man happened to be passing. He asked them why they were fighting. The husband explained his ambitions and the wife put forward hers. The holy man said that the best way to solve the dispute was to invite the son to come and express his views on the matter. When the husband explained that there was as yet no son, the holy man laughed and scolded them for the stupid planning.

Your Comments / Rating

• Gloria
  Rating 2.0
  Children reading this will understand what a doctor or scientist is, but won't understand lawyer. So the story begins with something incomprehensible by children--that's not good.
  Wise Buddhists do not need to be holy men--can be anybody. The notion of holy man will be alien to Western children.
  Finally, children should not be exposed at a young age (like the age the books are directed at) to the idea that their parents are "stupid." It can cause insecurities in the children, since the children have to trust their parents at this age and assume the decisions made by parents are the best ones that can be made.
• Alan Page
  Rating 3.5
  I like this story but taking it up a level - how do we know what exists and what doesn't? If we argue that point as we just as bad as the husband and wife?
• Veronica Gould
  Rating 4.0
  I see the point of the story but what's wrong with planning ahead? If we wait until the last minute - things go wrong.
• Liz Gosse
  Rating 4.5
  That is so true! How much time do we waste arguing about thigs which don't even exist!