The humble politician

A politician came out of his office only to find many, many voters screaming at him and hurling insults at him. They were berating him at the top of their lungs. He said to these angry voters, “Why are you behaving like this? What have I done?”

The voters said, “You rogue! We do not want you to represent us. You are no good.”

The man said, “I am no good? What have I done?”

One voter was so mad that he screamed, “I am going to stone you.”

Then he threw a stone at the politician. The politician bent his head, and the stone flew by without striking his head. The politician said to the unruly crowd, “Look, here is the proof that I am a good person. You are all saying I am a very, very bad person. No, I assure you I am a good person. Other politicians always keep their heads straight. They never bow to anybody because they feel they know everything; they believe they are perfect. They are sure that they will make you all happy. In my case, I am not like that. I am modest, I am humble. When you threw the stone, it did not strike me. Why? Because of my humility. When I bowed to you, your stone did not strike my head.”

An old lady happened to be there. The politician went to the old lady because she had a reputation for being extremely honest. All the others were watching. He said to this old lady, “Please tell me, who will you vote for?”

She said, “Young man, I do like you, but I want to tell you that you are my second choice.”

Everybody started roaring with laughter and saying, “Oh, he is the second choice, second choice!”

The politician was miserable. He thought that he had convinced the crowd that he was a very humble man, if not the most humble man.

Then the old lady said, “My first choice is anyone who is not a politician!”