Identity Theft

The story goes of a gentleman waiting to board a plane at an airport. While he waits, he decides to get a small bag of doughnuts and a coffee. After making the purchase he discovers one problem: there are no open tables at the coffee shop. He finally manages to find an empty seat at a table at which just one other man is sitting.
The man sits down at this table and begins to peel the lid off his coffee cup. He takes a sip. He puts his hand into the bag of doughnuts and takes out one doughnut and begins eating. Then something absolutely absurd happens. The man sitting across from him puts his hand into the same bag of doughnuts, smiles, takes a doughnut and begins eating. The first man is taken off guard. He does not know what to do. This is the first case of doughnut theft he can think of. He then makes a point by giving the other man a look that could kill. Then he takes a doughnut from his bag of doughnuts and eats his doughnut. Before he has time to finish eating, the other man once again dips into the bag for another. The doughnut-theft victim is baffled and now outraged. He is envisioning years of professional psychiatric care. He thinks, “What is the world coming to? We are now stealing doughnuts from each other?” Surely this should be the end of the story right?

Well, the doughnut thief gathers his own belongings as he needs to catch a flight. He smiles politely at the burgled victim, gets up and then once again dips into the bag to find only one left! He breaks, the doughnut in half and leaves one half in the bag and makes his departure, but not without a final seething look from the doughnut burgled victim. The doughnut victim is, of course, in shock, but he has his own flight to catch. As he bends down to get his suitcase, he’s even more shocked to find his own bag of doughnuts on top of his luggage.

He ate humble doughnuts, as he realized his accusations of the other man stealing was not stealing at all but, in fact, sharing, while he, on the other hand had been the thief! What an eye opener to the accusing and aren’t we guilty of the same kinds of things? We point fingers, accuse and blame others for what we ourselves are guilty of, either knowingly or unknowingly. Sometimes our accusations against others come because we don’t clearly see what really is happening and perhaps the problem lies in our own ignorance and perception.