thin king

Good morning,

Friends, friends or bear friends

There is a well told tale about two travellers who met a big bear on their journey. One of them quickly climbed up a tree. The other one did not know how to climb, so he ask his friend for help; but his friend climb up higher without helping. Frightened to death this man collapsed by the tree trunk, like dead. The bear came by, sniffed about him for a while, and then went away. It seems that bears do not eat dead bodies. When the coast was clear, the first man climbed down. He found his friend alright, uninjured. He asked, "What did the bear say to you ?" His friend replied, "The bear told me not to travel with a friend who deserts you at the first sign of danger."

There are friends; there are bear friends; and there are friends.

These friends do any of these:
Coax you to join in a pyramid marketing venture.
Ask you to take part in a money making scheme.
Bring you to a shop and encourage you to buy regardless.
Use rhetoric in front of a senior, or put you down nicely subtly.
Agree with the one with authority, treating you like a small brother.
Invite you to a trip when it would be more trouble than enjoyment for you.

Remember, if there is money to be made,
would people ask friends in and reduce their share ?
They would certainly make the money first
and then tell you how smart they had been.

I remember an incident in a golf game. I hit a kind of bad duck hook shot, a shot where the ball curved to the left. The ball hit a caddie from a following flight on the back of his hand. It was his fault; he should not be there. Luckily, it was a poor shot, not a real duck hook, and it caused only a bad swelling. He was sent to the hospital for treatment. My three flight mates went along with their game unconcerned, as if nothing untoward had happened.

That day I had three bear friends.

Have a nice day
Ronald