The big city lawyer flew into town, the big case 9:00 am the next morning. Unfortunately his flight from New York had a tight connection and he arrived very late without his bags. The problem was obvious: big court case and NO SUIT, SHIRT, TIE OR SHOES (he travels in jeans and loafers).
"Not to worry,” says the local attorney who partnered with him on the case, “My good friend has a clothing store and I’ll call to see if he can open early for you.” “Sure,” the friend said, “Just come over and I’ll have our tailor work with him.”
The tailor worked magic, whipping out a stellar suit, shirt and tie, and tailoring it to perfection within the hour. So good in fact, the other lawyers in court complimented him on his attire, something that just doesn’t happen in the halls of justice.
The lawyer won his big case, the partner called his friend to tell him the great news and thank him. The clothier thanked the tailor, hugged him, shook his hand and told him his role in this true team victory.
But here’s the remarkable thing: this all happened on the day an article appeared in the paper about “the clash of civilizations” warning about the big Islam conspiracy to rule the world and exhorting Western Christianity to violently confront this so called scourge.
Well, on this day in this town where three strangers came together for a common good the lawyer was Jewish, the clothier was Christian, the tailor was Muslim. Of course, none gave each other’s religiosity any thought whatsoever, and I suspect this is the way of the world at large.
Are there fundamentalists of every religion who are so fearful that they seek to bind their insecurity with violence? Sure, but make no mistake. There is no “clash of civilizations” other than the self-fulfilling prophecy manic non-Muslims make of it, displaying a sense of fear and foreboding that need not exist.
99.9% of this world wants what you want—peace, happiness…and sometimes a great suit that fits.
2 comments:
Saw your letter in the Herald-Leader today. Googled & found blog. Have been reading more about Aspartame. Yikes! My wife has already been on my case because it's not unusual for me to drink 4 litres Diet Coke in an evening. Okay with maybe a little bourbon too. A toast to my declining health. Thanks for the public heads up. Also was reading about bottled water in the H-L today. Things are looking a little murky on that front as well. I did not look at your blog in depth, but kudos on what generally looks to be a positive message. Re: emergency tailor for lawyer story. Would like to see that story in Jim Jordan's biz gossip column.
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