tl;dr: Pride is the cause of a lot of problems, which could be prevented with just a bit of humility and understanding.

The Deserving Man

The man had young women and little boys doing any work in his new mansion home with which he didn’t want to dirty his hands. There was no one more fit to do so, really. Certainly, someone as well off as he shouldn’t bother with such tasks; he had his pride, after all. And those he had working for him either had no choice but to accept the meager pay he gave, or didn’t recognize just how little they received. Of course, the man thought, he had even less when he was their age.

He was a self-made man, and he took pride in it. He started out with nothing: no home, no food, no family, and no education. Like most any orphan in the streets, anything he had on his person was all he had, and that little bit he had to steal. He never let go of some values throughout that time, though. Humility was important, for if he demanded he deserved more than what was given him, then he would receive nothing, except the occasional slap for arrogance. Patience was required, for he needed to wait for just the right time to acquire bread, or a book to teach himself. He climbed up to his current, luxuriant position through blood, sweat, tears and hard work. Never was dumb luck ever a factor. No, not once was his advancement through society ever aided by chance. That’s what he prided himself on.

And that is why the man was lounging around his exquisite estate of 10 years, doing nothing much else. He now had no need to practice humility and patience, surrounded by what he had achieved. He had certainly done his part in life. The world had given him nothing, and yet he found a way to make a name for himself and give to the world more than most can brag about. Surely he deserved this holiday from life, this early retirement, to treat himself to the finer things he was robbed of in his early years. He had no obligation to pay his workers more than he was, because it was only their lack of motivation holding them back. If they put as much effort into climbing the rungs of society as he did, then they would be is as good as a position as he. It is their own fault for wasting their time simply cursing their bad luck or praying for a miracle, when they could spend that time working. Yes, luck and God had nothing to do with one’s quality of life. Only hard work got him so far, and hard work is what made him different from his lazy workers. That’s what he prided himself on.

And that is why the man didn’t even leave his deluxe home of ten years. His workers bought the groceries and luxury items he so deserved for his hard work. They mowed his lawn, trimmed his hedges, swept the floors, dusted the rooms, and repaired the various appliances. They walked his purebreds, they washed his clothes, and they cooked his meals. When he so wished, he let into his household seductive mistresses, for the young women he employed would become monotonous over time. He squandered in whatever pleasures he so wanted, because he deserved to, and could certainly afford to. The man deserved to do so because of all the hard work that paved the way to all his wealth. In that fact lied all of his pride.

And that is why the man grew fat in his upscale environment of 20 years. That was of little consequence to him, however, as he needed not be in fit form for any reason. His worked his way to wealth without luck or divine intervention for all of his early life, and now he has his workers to take care of any mundane affairs. The only things he did for himself were bathing, dressing, eating, and walking. Even tasks such as managing his savings ledger and taxes were left to another. Even though they didn’t know the meaning of hard work, he could trust his workers enough to at least not screw up a few numbers. Indeed, numbers may be the only thing his workers did know the meaning to. Many people, not just his slothful workers, knew not the meaning of doing things for oneself. It was a true shame, really. The fact that one man who worked hard enough was above so many people simple for that fact was a sad truth of the world. But that, the man decided, was something he could take pride in.

And that is why the man couldn’t comprehend why he had lost his grand mansion of 30 years. He had had more than enough money to pay for all his heart’s desires, even when taking mortgage payments into account, so he was clueless as to why he had been forced to foreclose his pride and joy. The workers who had bought him his goods had said it was because of his demand for fine and expensive goods. The workers who had more of a white collar job had said he was too generous with their salaries for his own good. None of it made sense to the man, who thought this happening to be a terrible stroke of bad luck. He had to move to a cheap, reminder-of-his-past living quarters, which he was supposed to be done with after all his hard work. He shouldn’t have to have worked in the city center to get by anymore. He was better than everyone else around him. He worked his way to greatness and acquired great wealth. That is what he prided himself on.

And that is why the man despised his rundown room of five years. He had little protection from the weather, he had no one to tidy what could be tidied, and he had no one to go to the market to buy his food. It’s not like he had much money to do that himself, anyway. It was all taken from him unjustly five years ago. Instead, he worked in the market place every day for those same low wages of his past, doing more than what he should have to do anymore. Of course, he was still a genius of hard work, so he would just had to go at it until he worked his way back to the top. He was a grown man now, rather than a young boy, so he could do more hard work than he did even in his past, leading to a quicker climb up the ranks. But it wasn’t happening. Year after year he witnessed those around him, those lesser than him, save up enough money to move out of the rundown area and onto a better position in life. It frustrated him to see such people getting lucky breaks, leaving a hard worker such as himself to live in that damned squalor. He was especially angry when a person who remembered him as the man with the extravagant home mocked him for his current position in life, as if the man was to blame for the drop in his quality of life. Something snapped in the man, then, as he lashed out at the person who made fun of him. There was no reason not to do it, the man thought. Such arrogance was not to be tolerated. And the only thing the man thought of at this time was not about any injury he dealt to the person, or how many market stalls he crashed. He thought only about the audacity the person had to say such things about the man, as if the he were the person’s lesser. The man didn’t mean to kill the person, but the person had insulted his pride, and he would not stand for it.

And that is why he is sitting in his prison cell of 30 to 40 years. He has no hope of ever regaining his illustrious mansion, or his enormous wealth. He has been robbed of all the luxury that he rightfully deserves for all his hard work. He now spends all his days stuck in an institution meant for those of lesser standing than him. He used to be plump with good food, but now he barely has any fat or muscle to speak of. He has been reduced to a bag of skin and bones that is picked on and jostled by the prison guards, who never let him forget about what he once had. He doesn’t even have a cellmate to keep him company in his now permanent home. Such is his misfortune. He is forced to spend the rest of his life behind unwarranted bars, hungry and alone, with nothing but his shackles and his pride.

Edited 10/20/2017 03:31:58

So did his workers screw him out of his mansion out of spite or something? Am confused.

>short

I uploaded this to tts