A lesson from a duck

A big city lawyer went duck hunting in South Louisiana. He shot and dropped a bird, but it fell into a farmer’s field on the other side of a fence.

As the lawyer climbed over the fence, an elderly farmer drove up on his tractor and asked him what he was doing. The litigator responded, “I shot a duck and it fell in this field, and now I’m going in to retrieve it.”

The old farmer replied. “This is my property, and you are not coming over here.”

The indignant lawyer said, “I am one of the best trial attorneys in the US. If you don’t let me get that duck, I’ll sue you and take everything you own.”

The old farmer smiled and said, “Apparently, you don’t know how we do things in Louisiana. We rule ourselves under the Napoleonic Code. We settle small disagreements like this with the Louisiana Three Kick Rule.”

The lawyer asked, “What is the Louisiana Three Kick Rule?”

The farmer replied. “Well, first I kick you three times and then you kick me three times, and so on, back and forth, until someone gives up.”

The lawyer quickly thought about the proposed contest and decided he could easily take the old codger. He agreed to abide by the local custom. The old farmer slowly climbed down from the tractor and walked up to the city feller.

His first kick planted the toe of his heavy work boot into the lawyer’s groin and dropped him to his knees where he immediately vomited.

The geezer’s second kick nearly ripped the man’s nose off his face.

The lawyer was flat on his belly when the farmer’s third kick to a kidney nearly caused him to give up.

The lawyer summoned every bit of his dark heart and vengeful will, managed to get to his feet, and said, “Okay, you old fool; now it’s my turn.”

The old man smiled and said, “Naw, I give up. You can have the duck.”

This story taken from the web site called “The Good Clean Funnies List” made me laugh my head off and got me thinking at the same time. Is it all worth it?

Ask the lawyer and I think he will tell you it was a stupid arrangement in the first place. Regrettably though, in his insistence  he was right, he ended up with kicks that wounded not only his body, but more so his ego.

A businessperson I know, whom I will leave unnamed had a falling out with his business partner. Rather than being civil about it, his partner took out a strategy of intimidation and extortion wanting to get more than what was due him.

Legally, morally and ethically this businessperson has every right to fight his partner in court. But before he allowed his emotions to get the best of him, he sought counsel from friends.

Some of his business friends said, “Sue him! Teach him a lesson. Who does he think he is?”

Another friend who is quite spiritual said, “Lift it up to God. Just pray and allow God to deal with his unrighteousness.”

One shrewd business friend said, “This is how you do it, hit him hard where it hurts and kick him in the butt and let him suffer for what he is doing.”

One very successful businessman though who is wise, mature and his senior both in physical years as well as business experience said, “Friend, you may be right and obviously your partner is in the wrong. But you are not the only person affected in this fight. The families of your employees will be a part of this drama as well.”

And his wise advice was: “Your partner does not care about principles or morals, he simply wants money. Just give it to him and use money to buy peace. You should be glad that money is the only thing he wants for with that kind of character, there is no way of telling what other evil he may do in the future….”

Some fights are simply just not worth it. Today, this businessman has regained his money a thousand fold and has the one element that money cannot buy; and that is peace and an unblemished reputation that is admired and respected by his people.

There are a lot of people out there who are so cheap that the only thing they have and want is money so the farther you are away from their dirty tricks and unethical practices, the better it will be for you.

And you avoid getting kicked too.

(Attend “Stand Out for Outstanding Performance” will be held on Sept. 9, at the Metro Tent inside Metro Walk along Ortigas Blvd. Be inspired and learn from speakers  Chinkee Tan, Bryan Kong and Karen Davila as they share principles on how to become great achievers. For further inquiries contact Inspire at 09158055910 or call 632-6310912 or 6310660 for details)