Riding the Bus of Our Life--a Muse

 

                                                          The Judge and his Grandson

When I was a kid, growing up in a Sicilian immigrant family in Connecticut, my grandfather, Carmelo Ferraro, would  tell us stories.

                                                            

                                                                  Grandpa Ferraro

Here’s one I’ve never forgotten. Not the kind you find in books—but the kind that stick with you. The kind that pop into your head years later and still make you smile, or think … .

There was a judge who brought his young son—or maybe it was his grandson—with him to the courthouse. The boy sat quietly in the corner of the judge’s chambers, listening, while his grandfather heard that day’s cases.

On this particular day, the judge called in the plaintiff. He listened carefully to his story, nodded a few times, and when the man was finished, the judge said,

“You’re right.”

Then he brought in the defendant. The judge listened closely, asked a few questions—and when that man finished, the judge said,

“You’re right.”

Now, the boy had been paying close attention to all this. After a moment, he leaned over to his grandfather and said,

 “Grandpa… they can’t both be right!”

And the grandfather, without missing a beat, smiled and said,

“You’re right!”

I don’t know if this story is about wisdom… or politics… or just the art of keeping the peace.

What do you think?