One day Carl was playing basketball on Paul’s team, doing his best to execute the explicit instructions that Paul had given to his team. Carl soon became exhausted-he had fully exerted himself in a very short time. Paul expelled Carl from the court, shouting: “You exemplify the meaning of the word stupid-you should be as extinct as the dodo bird!” On the exterior, Carl showed no expression. Carl had no ability to express his feelings, and he feared that if he said anything, he would expose himself to be as stupid as Paul said he was. Carl ran all the way home and never played basketball again.
Paul continued on as a successful basketball player and it seemed that nothing could extinguish the bright flame of his future career as a professional basketball player. He did not bother to expend any time to help others-he was too busy exploiting all of the opportunities that were open to him. Paul seemed to be exempt from the normal troubles of life as he became a famous university basketball player. But Paul’s luck finally expired-he badly injured his knee in his last game and could never play basketball again. Paul was force to return to his hometown to try to find a job-his severe injury had finally exposed him to the realities of life. The economy was bad, and only one place was expanding at all. Paul went to ask for a job, and when he arrived, he discovered that the boss was Carl-the poor boy that Paul had embarrassed on the basketball court many years before. “I should use my position to extract an apology from you,” Carl said, “but nothing can extinguish the humiliation I felt that day. I will let you work here, but you must promise to teach my son how to play basketball.” Paul expressed his sincere gratitude, and he later coached Carl’s son to become the best player that their hometown had ever seen.