St. Joseph Province

Missionaries Of Compassion

“Do as I have done” Jn 13,15

Home » Thought for the Day » Be clear and precise

Two brothers, Tom & Cody, live in the same house with their mom. One day Tom goes on a vacation for two weeks to Florida.  The next day Tom calls Cody at home and asks how his cat Morris is doing. Cody replies, “He’s dead.”  Tom got angry at Cody and yells at him for an hour.  Cody finally gets Tom calmed down and pleads to Tom that it wasn’t his fault. Tom says, “I know that you did your best but what bothers me is how you told me.” Confused Cody says, “How else should I have said it?” Tom replies, “Well when I called the first time you could have said he is up on the roof and I can’t get him down.  The second time I called you could have said he was sick and he had to be taken to the vet, and the third time you could have said that he died.  That way you could’ve built me up to it.   After one week Tom calls Cody “Oh well, how is mom?” Cody replied, “She’s up on the roof and I can’t get her down.

“Beating around the bush may not hurt; but it also accomplishes nothing. To be clear and precise is the best policy. “Let your words be yes for yes, no for no” and you shall not regret later. Diplomacy is nothing but another word for lie.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *