The stories my father tells

For as long as I can remember my father has been telling me some crazy stories. For the most part his stories are funny, but more often times than not, they are really hard to believe. It's become somewhat of a game between him and I, and the passing of the years don't seem to have slowed him down one bit.

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The other day he told me a story of a rich man he knew as a child who owned a ton of land. This man, who came from a humble background, worked really hard and became a multi-millionaire by the time he reached his golden years. Apparently he never lost his simplicity, and never truly showed he was as wealthy as he was. He dressed humbly and spoke simply, so only those who knew him personally where aware of his fortune.

At any rate, at some point in time this man started to help other farmers who still struggled to make ends meet, and from what my father says, this old man was very loved and respected. One day one of these would be beneficiaries of his benevolence, invited the main character of this story to his humble home to dine and talk about a business opportunity.

The evening was very pleasant, he was served different meats, pork, chicken and a plethora of treats, but towards the end of the meal the conversation got serious. Apparently after finishing the meal the farmer and host of the evening made his sales pitch to the best of his ability, and left the millionaire thinking for a second.

Then as you might imagine, came the hilarious response:

"Loan you money? I can't loan you money, not you, you are terrible at managing your wealth... You killed a female pig that makes you piggies, you killed two chickens that lay eggs and cooked way more food that I could ever eat to impress me. You are terrible at managing your money son."

As you might imagine, I laughed like crazy. Not only because it's exactly what I didn't expect, but because it actually makes perfect sense. And in his simplicity, and his farm-life wisdom, he professing a beautifully crafted truth bomb.