A man joins a monastery. He takes a vow of silence, but is allowed to speak two words every ten years. The years go by, and the monk is granted his brief utterance: "Bed hard."
Ten more years of tending the garden, vespers and deprivation, the monk is ready to speak his mind: "Food cold."
By this time, the spartan living, the long hours and boring work have taken their toll. When the next ten years have finally passed, the monk appears again before the abbot to say his piece: "I quit."
"I'm not surprised, replied the abbot, "you've been complaining ever since you got here."
A man orders 3 beers at the bar and takes a sip from each one, in turn, until he's finished them. A week later, he's back to repeat this ritual. The bartender, dying to know what the deal is, asks the man why he drinks his beers in such a way. The man explains that he and his 2 brothers were very close growing up, but now the brothers were separated by great distances and couldn't be with each other often. They decided that whenever one of them had a drink, he would order two more for his missing brothers; it would be like they were all together again.
Week after week, the man came in and had his three beers. Then, one day, he came to the bar and ordered only 2 beers. He sat and drank them as usual. The crowd in the bar could be heard sighing, thinking that something unfortunate must have occurred. The bartender finally came over and asked him if something had happened to his brother.
The man looked up. "Oh no, nothing like that, everyone's just fine. I just quit drinking, that's all."
Ten more years of tending the garden, vespers and deprivation, the monk is ready to speak his mind: "Food cold."
By this time, the spartan living, the long hours and boring work have taken their toll. When the next ten years have finally passed, the monk appears again before the abbot to say his piece: "I quit."
"I'm not surprised, replied the abbot, "you've been complaining ever since you got here."
A man orders 3 beers at the bar and takes a sip from each one, in turn, until he's finished them. A week later, he's back to repeat this ritual. The bartender, dying to know what the deal is, asks the man why he drinks his beers in such a way. The man explains that he and his 2 brothers were very close growing up, but now the brothers were separated by great distances and couldn't be with each other often. They decided that whenever one of them had a drink, he would order two more for his missing brothers; it would be like they were all together again.
Week after week, the man came in and had his three beers. Then, one day, he came to the bar and ordered only 2 beers. He sat and drank them as usual. The crowd in the bar could be heard sighing, thinking that something unfortunate must have occurred. The bartender finally came over and asked him if something had happened to his brother.
The man looked up. "Oh no, nothing like that, everyone's just fine. I just quit drinking, that's all."