I made some soup for family and friends. While stirring, I accidentally spilled salt into the pot.
“There is too much salt in this soup!” they cried. “We need to do something to stop this from happening again!”
I promised to be more careful next time and my words put everyone at ease.
The next time I made soup, I spilled salt again.
“There is too much salt in this soup,” they complained. “Why does this keep happening?”
I said I would maybe be more careful and my words put everyone at ease once more.
I made soup again and again, each time spilling more and more salt. The soup was always too salty to eat, but eat it they did.
“There is too much salt in this soup,” they commented. “Something must be done.”
“Let’s ban salt from the kitchen,” one smartly proposed.
“Let’s add even more salt to the soup,” suggested another.
“This is about the mental health of the chef,” said a third, without offering an actual solution.
A fourth shrugged their shoulders and sighed. “Our soup will always have too much salt. That simply cannot be changed.”
The others fell into agreement, began to offer up diluted prayers each time they ate, and I continued to make my soup with too much salt.
Lawrence Silveira 