Fawlty Showers

Carrot and Stick

“How does your husband deal with your daughter’s boyfriend?” I asked later.

Dana said, “Carrot and the stick.  He got Dimwit, The Princess’s boyfriend, a good job cleaning up construction sites. Holding onto that job is the carrot.”

“What’s the stick?” I asked.

“He told Dimwit he knows a couple of shady bricklayers who owe him favors.  They’d be happy to hide a body behind a brick wall if he asked.”

 “I met your husband,” I said. “He’s a really nice guy. He’d never do something like that.”

“You know that, and I know that. Dimwit can’t be sure.”

I thought for a moment. “It takes both sometimes. I quit drinking because I got tired of beating myself with the stick. I stayed sober because of the carrot – seeing how much better life could be.”

‘Gotta love the carrot and the stick. ‘Course I’d like to beat Dimwit with a stick while he choked on a carrot, but that’s another story.”

 

Today I’ll try to be grateful when I’m motivated by both the carrot and the stick.

 

Fawlty Showers is a work of fiction. Any similarity between the characters and anyone you might know is purely coincidental.

Other works by Ken Montrose are available at:

·         www.greenbriartraining.com 

·         https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001K8MG0S

https://www.pinterest.com/kenmontrose/mt-rose/