You and What You Want

Jeevan Sivasubramaniam Posted by Jeevan Sivasubramaniam, Managing Director, Editorial, Berrett-Koehler Publishers Inc.



Alice was in big trouble. She forgot her husband’s birthday was tomorrow and knew he would be really angry if she didn’t get him the present he wanted.


He had told her, “On my birthday, I expect to find a gift in the driveway that goes from 0 to 200 in less than 6 seconds AND IT BETTER BE THERE!!” At the same time, she really didn’t feel that her husband deserved nor needed a new sports car. What made things worse is how he kept repeating the specs about needing to "... go from 0 to 200 in less than six seconds" all day -- hounding her.


The next morning Alice got up early and left for work. When her husband woke up, he looked out the window expecting to see his present and sure enough there was a box gift-wrapped in the middle of the driveway.


Confused, the husband put on his robe and ran out to the driveway. He grabbed the box and opened it.Inside was a brand new bathroom scale.


Moral of the Story: Make it all about yourself and sometimes you'll get exactly what you asked for.