Smart People

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It is amazing how often you meat people who are fonts of knowledge. I met a man here in France yesterday who was just one such person. He was standing on the walkway beside a bar where a number of people had gathered to watch the football match that was being televised. I leaned over to see if I could catch the score. He asked why I was interested in the score of that particular game. I told him I was not more interested in it than any other but as I had been following the tournament I wondered how the two teams were doing.

When he heard my accent he began to share his wisdom and insight into the world of sport. He wondered why my team Scotland was represented at the tournament. I told him what I knew he wanted to hear, that we were not good enough to qualify at. I told him we excelled at other sports like curling and swimming and tennis. He immediately returned to the football. Funny he said that Wales has a team in, that Ireland has a team in, Northern Ireland has a team in and of course Britain has a team in. I looked at hime. he of course meant England, I rest my case about his knowledge. He chuckled because he saw he had made a flawed argument. We parted smiling.

There is an interesting story.

A doctor, a lawyer, a little boy and a minister were out for a Sunday afternoon flight on a small private plane. Suddenly, the plane developed engine trouble. In spite of the best efforts of the pilot, the plane started to go down. Finally, the pilot grabbed a parachute and yelled to the passengers that they better jump, and he himself bailed out.

Unfortunately, there were only three parachutes remaining.

The doctor grabbed one and said “I’m a doctor, I save lives, so I must live,” and jumped out.

The lawyer then said, “I’m a lawyer and lawyers are the smartest people in the world. I deserve to live.” He also grabbed a parachute and jumped.

The minister looked at the little boy and said, “My son, I’ve lived a long and full life. You are young and have your whole life ahead of you. Take the last parachute and live in peace.”

The little boy handed the parachute back to the minister and said, “Not to worry reverend. The smartest man in the world just took off with my back pack.”

It is not the job that defines what or who you are but the actions and the words of your life.