The Shovel

There was a certain man who had to dig a two-foot-deep hole to bury his wife's dead cat in the back yard of his mother-in-law's house. His mother-in-law handed him a shovel that was unfit for the task. It was a square-tipped shovel, and obviously very old. The man protested as he had had experience digging holes in the past, and was fairly certain that this shovel would make the task more difficult. But he also knew the hole needed to be dug soon, and it was already fairly late in the evening.

He got one-third of the way through when the old shovel broke. So he set he decided to go to the hardware store to pick up a new shovel.

His mother-in-law stopped him and insisted that he borrow a shovel from the neighbor, so she went across the street to ask for one. When she returned, she handed him another square-tipped shovel, which was even bigger than the one before.

The man knew this was an even worse tool for the task, but just to keep from causing a problem, he attempted to use it. Frustration was all he experienced.

He expressed his frustration for a minute, apologized to his family for making this so complicated, and left for the hardware store hoping it was still open.

When he returned, he had his prized point tipped shovel. The hole was dug quickly, the cat was buried, and he went home with his family.

The End