'WANTA BORROW A JACK?' - A Parable

by J. P. McEvoy

"A fellow was speeding down a country road one night when he had a blowout. The spare tire was all right, but he found that someone had taken his jack and not returned it. Looking around he saw the lights of a farmhouse, and said, "I'll just go see if I can borrow a jack from him." As he walked toward the house, he tried to rehearse his request for the jack. "I'll just knock on the door, ask for the jack, and he will say, 'Why sure, neighbour, just make sure you bring it back.'" The closer to the house he came, the more nervous he was about the response he might receive. He thought to himself, "Now, he'¹s gone to bed and will be annoyed because I wakened him – so he'll probably want some money for the jack – and I'll say, "OK, but that's not very neighbourly of you, but I'll give you an quarter." He thought to himself, "He will probably say, 'You think you can get me up in the middle of the night, and then offer me a quarter? I'll get a dollar or you can go somewhere else for your jack!"

By now, the fellow had worked himself into a pretty good lather. When he turned into the man's gate, he muttered, "A dollar! All right, I'll give you a dollar. But not a red cent more! A poor guy has an accident and all he needs is a jack. You probably won't let me have one no matter what I pay. That's the kind of guy you are." When he got to the door, he knocked loudly, angrily. When the farmer stuck his head out the window he hollered, "Who's there? What do you want?" The fellow stopped pounding on the door and yelled up, "You know what you can do with your old jack. Just keep it! See if I care!"


By the time I stopped laughing, I asked, "Is that what I've been doing? I guess I have just been borrowing trouble." On the way home, I realized that I had forgotten to call my wife and tell her I might be late. Crawling along in a string of heavy traffic, I thought to myself, "I¹ll tell her I was caught in the weekend traffic, and she'll say, 'Why didn't you phone me before you left for home?" Then I'll say, "What difference does it make? I'm here, aren't I?" Then she will say, "Yes, and I've been here all day slaving, waiting to hear from you." Then I'll say, "Do you think I have nothing else to do than call you up every hour and make like a lovebird?" And she'll say, "You mean like a wolf, but you wouldn't be calling me!" By this time I was pretty steamed up, and as I jumped out and slammed the car door, my wife flung open the window upstairs. "All right!" I shouted up to her, "Say it." "I will," she said softly, "Wanta borrow a jack?"

We can cause a lot stress, if we put our minds ahead of the upcoming situation, and play out scenarios that probably will not even happen.