The following cartoon appeared on my Facebook newsfeed today.

I am reminded of a couple of old stories. The first:

The Mexican Fisherman

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

“Not very long,” answered the Mexican.

“But then, why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs…I have a full life.”

The American interrupted, “I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you!

“You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.

“Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you can negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge enterprise.”

“How long would that take?” asked the Mexican.

“Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years,” replied the American.

“And after that?”

“Afterwards? That’s when it gets really interesting,” answered the American, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!”

“Millions? Really? And after that?”

“After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta, and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends!”

The Second:

A farmer’s son had worked his father’s farm all his life, but when he became of age he realized he wanted more out of life than farm labor could bring him, so he went off and got multiple degrees in agricultural engineering.

Years later he returned to the farm and began proudly showing his father all the ways that he could improve his output. “For example, Dad, just look at that tree over there. I bet you wouldn’t get more than 10 pounds of cherries off that tree.”

“I daresay you’re right, Son,” replied the farmer. “That there is a pear tree.”

More is definitely not always better. The accumulation of wealth beyond one’s needs, save for “the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted” is generally an exercise in misery. Happiness is not found in the end of the journey, for once the journey ends there’s always something else to tempt us.

I WISH YOU ENOUGH.

Recently, I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport as the daughter’s departure had been announced. Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said:

“I love you and I wish you enough.”

The daughter replied, “Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom.” They kissed and the daughter left.

The mother walked over to the window where I sat. Standing there, I could see she wanted and needed to cry.

I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking, “Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?” “Yes, I have,” I replied. “Forgive me for asking but why is this a forever good-bye?”

“I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is the next trip back will be for my funeral,” she said.

When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, “I wish you enough.” May I ask what that means?”

She began to smile. “That’s a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone.” She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she smiled even more.

“When we said ‘I wish you enough’ we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them”. Then turning toward me, she shared the following, reciting it from memory,

“I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.

I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.”

She then began to cry and walked away.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person. An hour to appreciate them. A day to love them. And an entire life to forget them.

– Author Unknown

May we all have enough.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

I wish they would make junk mail illegal, but unfortunately the post office depends on it for a good portion of their income.

Spam is a different matter. It’s annoying, it’s deceptive, it’s unwanted, and spammers use all sorts of tactics to get their excrement past your filters.

The milquetoasts in Congress patted themselves on the back for passing the CAN-SPAM act, a feeble waste of legislative effort that actually enabled and increased UCE (unsolicited commercial email).

But from where I sit, businesses who spam are, for all intents and purposes, criminal enterprises and spammers are unethical, immoral, criminal douchebags.

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

As a point of illustration, here is the “invisible” text that accompanied a recent plug for wireless cameras:

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If a company feels a need to resort to such scummy tricks to get their trash past your spam filters, this is not a reputable concern and you would be well advised to stay far away from them.

The Old Wolf has spoken.