Reply to Johnstone’s “50 Proverbs”

Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. You’ll have him out of your hair until he comes by tomorrow for his next fish.

Teaching him to fish will feel like teaching a walrus to roller-skate. As soon as you break out the fishing rod he’ll look at you like you come from the seventeenth century – like you tried to tell him he could knap his own spearheads with a hammerstone and pair of reindeer antlers. He hasn’t got time to screw about with bait and fishing rods and sinkers. He just wants a fish.

Even if you get him to try it, he’ll just pretend to pay attention and spend most of the time fantasising about the woman in apartment twelve.

Give the man a fish.

  • You might also like

    • The Magi Can Go Home Too, Everyone Can Go Home

      THIS HOUSE IS NOT FOR SALE E.C. Osondu Granta, June 2015, RRP $29.99 E.C. Osondu second story collection, This House is Not For Sale is a collection of short stories surrounding the residents of the Family House.  It is a slim volume that packs a punch, provoking thoughts about the nature of truth … Continue reading