5 ms·

In an alternate universe: the lady couldn’t walk, got obese and died of a heart attack 10 years ago. So, the past isn’t true until it is and then, maybe, it’s

by WA 3y ago

In an alternate universe: the lady couldn’t walk, got obese and died of a heart attack 10 years ago. So, the past isn’t true until it is and then, maybe, it’s even worse. Not sure what to make of this story.

keepamovin 3y ago
Reminds me of: https://thedailyzen.org/2015/03/20/zen-story-maybe/ https://thedailyzen.org/2015/03/20/zen-story-maybe/ There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically. “Maybe,” the farmer replied. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed. “Maybe,” replied the old man. The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. “Maybe,” answered the farmer. The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. “Maybe,” said the farmer.
- thieving_magpie 3y ago
  Complete tangent here. My favorite book to read my kids is Zen Shorts by Jon J Muth. It features a panda named Stillwater who tells this story (among others) in it.
  - javert 3y ago
    I would highly recommend "The Parent's Tao Te Ching" by William Martin. It's a retelling of the Tao Te Ching into plain English, using parent/child relationships to make the points. I recommend this both to parents, and to children. Which is all of us. We never stop being children of our parents. I don't have children, nor do I plan to, yet this is one of the most powerful books I've read.
- BatFastard 3y ago
  This is a rip off of the story "Ed" told in the TV show "Northern Exposure", but it has always been one of my favorites from that show.
  - sharkjacobs 3y ago
    I don't know exactly when that episode of Northern Exposure aired but this story dates back to 2nd century BCE[1] [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_old_man_lost_his_horse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_old_man_lost_his_horse
    - wpietri 3y ago
      That only shows how wily the Chinese are about IP theft, building time-viewing technology 2,000 years ago so that they could rip off American pop culture. Especially clever of them to steal things that sound like ancient parables and plant them in ancient times.
      - keepamovin 3y ago
        That's pretty funny! Thanks for the laugh :)
    - tivert 3y ago
      > I don't know exactly when that episode of Northern Exposure aired but this story dates back to 2nd century BCE[1] > [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_old_man_lost_his_horse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_old_man_lost_his_horse That Wikipedia page was created in 2020. Northern Exposure predates that. Going with the OP's theme: if we repeat the GP's comment enough times, over a long enough period, we can change history and then history would really show it to have originated from the "story "Ed" told in the TV show 'Northern Exposure.'"
  - notacoward 3y ago
    Maybe you shouldn't have used "rip off" unless you were absolutely sure that you had the relationship the right way around. And it seems you didn't. There's a lesson to be learned there.
- bze12 3y ago
  this story is in Charlie Wilson's War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2cjVhUrmII https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2cjVhUrmII
dubeye 3y ago
My exact response too. I guess the point of the story stands either way, so you might as well pick the positive outcome.
libraryatnight 3y ago
It reads more like someone wrote it at 17 imagining what it'd be like to cripple someone and have this elaborate 'moment' where all is forgiven because nothing is real.

by WA 3y ago

keepamovin 3y ago

Reminds me of: https://thedailyzen.org/2015/03/20/zen-story-maybe/ https://thedailyzen.org/2015/03/20/zen-story-maybe/ There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically. “Maybe,” the farmer replied. The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed. “Maybe,” replied the old man. The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. “Maybe,” answered the farmer. The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. “Maybe,” said the farmer.

thieving_magpie 3y ago
Complete tangent here. My favorite book to read my kids is Zen Shorts by Jon J Muth. It features a panda named Stillwater who tells this story (among others) in it.
- javert 3y ago
  I would highly recommend "The Parent's Tao Te Ching" by William Martin. It's a retelling of the Tao Te Ching into plain English, using parent/child relationships to make the points. I recommend this both to parents, and to children. Which is all of us. We never stop being children of our parents. I don't have children, nor do I plan to, yet this is one of the most powerful books I've read.
BatFastard 3y ago
This is a rip off of the story "Ed" told in the TV show "Northern Exposure", but it has always been one of my favorites from that show.
- sharkjacobs 3y ago
  I don't know exactly when that episode of Northern Exposure aired but this story dates back to 2nd century BCE[1] [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_old_man_lost_his_horse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_old_man_lost_his_horse
  - wpietri 3y ago
    That only shows how wily the Chinese are about IP theft, building time-viewing technology 2,000 years ago so that they could rip off American pop culture. Especially clever of them to steal things that sound like ancient parables and plant them in ancient times.
    - keepamovin 3y ago
      That's pretty funny! Thanks for the laugh :)
  - tivert 3y ago
    > I don't know exactly when that episode of Northern Exposure aired but this story dates back to 2nd century BCE[1] > [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_old_man_lost_his_horse https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_old_man_lost_his_horse That Wikipedia page was created in 2020. Northern Exposure predates that. Going with the OP's theme: if we repeat the GP's comment enough times, over a long enough period, we can change history and then history would really show it to have originated from the "story "Ed" told in the TV show 'Northern Exposure.'"
- notacoward 3y ago
  Maybe you shouldn't have used "rip off" unless you were absolutely sure that you had the relationship the right way around. And it seems you didn't. There's a lesson to be learned there.
bze12 3y ago
this story is in Charlie Wilson's War https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2cjVhUrmII https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2cjVhUrmII

dubeye 3y ago

My exact response too. I guess the point of the story stands either way, so you might as well pick the positive outcome.

libraryatnight 3y ago

It reads more like someone wrote it at 17 imagining what it'd be like to cripple someone and have this elaborate 'moment' where all is forgiven because nothing is real.