A man’s house caught fire, and when the smoke cleared, the neighbors, rather than offering sympathy, decided the empty lot would make a perfect dumping ground for their garbage.
Now, the man wasn’t completely without resources. He had, for one thing, the mayor’s ear. The mayor, a man of considerable wealth and influence, took pity on him and promised to build him a new house. But there was a condition. Before any construction could begin, the lot had to be cleared of all the rubbish.
The man, ever pragmatic, hired a crew to remove the garbage, and with that, the mayor kept his word, building him a beautiful home.
Time passed, and one day the man, feeling rather pleased with himself, boasted to his friends, “I’ve done well. The mayor and I built this house together!”
The mayor, overhearing this, was taken aback. “What do you mean, together? What exactly did you contribute?”
The man proudly showed him the receipts for the garbage removal. "See? I paid for the cleanup.”
The mayor shook his head in disbelief. “That’s not building a house, my friend. That’s just removing the mess you allowed to pile up. The house itself—that’s on me.”
