THE VOICE WITHIN

A bus driver got ready for his day’s work, came to the termil, started his bus, and drove off along the route. Things went smoothly for the first few stops, people kept getting on and off, buying their tickets and generally behaving well.

At the next stop, however, a big hulk of a man got on. He was over six feet tall, built like a wrestler, with cannonball shoulders and thickly muscled arms hanging down to his knees. He glared at the driver, growled, “Big John doesn’t pay!” and sat down at the back.

The driver was puny and meek, so he didn’t argue with Big John. But he wasn’t happy about it. The next day the same thing happened. Big John got on again, made a show of refusing to pay, and sat down. And it was repeated the next day, and the day thereafter...

This daily interaction began to get on the bus driver’s nerves. He started losing sleep over the way Big John was taking advantage of him. He took to driving on a different route. But the humiliation he felt kept gwing at him deep inside.

Filly, he could stand it no longer. He joined a body building club and began a punishing weight training regimen. As his body began to fill out all over with rippling muscles, he also signed up at a mixed martial arts centre. He practiced long and hard with the judo, karate, Thai boxing and other fighting skills.

A couple of years passed and the bus driver had become exceedingly strong and fit. His friends and fellow drivers marveled at his now formidable physique, while strangers looked with awe and gave him a wide berth. He began to feel really good about himself.

One day, the driver went back to his old route. And there was Big John, getting on to the bus and growling, “Big John doesn’t pay!”

This time the driver stood up, glared back at the passenger, and yelled right back, “And why not?”

With a surprised look on his face, the giant replied, “Big John has a bus pass. Always did.”

Which is why they teach at the magement classes: “Be sure there is a problem in the first place before working hard to solve it!”

—the harbinger