The Haircut ... the REST of the story

I got this in an email today:

The Haircut

One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut. After the cut, he asked about his bill, and the barber replied, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The florist was pleased and left the shop.

When the barber went to open his shop the next morning, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.

Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The cop was happy and left the shop.

The next morning when the barber went to open up, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.

Then a Congressman came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his bill, the barber again replied, 'I cannot accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week.' The Congressman was very happy and left the shop.

The next morning, when the barber went to open up, there were a dozen Congressmen lined up waiting for a free haircut.

And that, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the citizens of our country and the politicians who run it.

Now, as Paul Harvey would say, I have written ... the rest of the story.

The following day, still more congressmen showed up and informed him that he was unfairly undercutting his competitors’ prices.  They set a lower boundary on what he could charge for a haircut.

In return for their bestowing of equity, they would continue get free haircuts and take 35% of his profits  to "level the playing field" and to give to poor people in hair-cut vouchers so that they could afford the newly mandated minum price.

When the barber then couldn’t make a profit because of the punitive taxes, he raised his prices a bit to try to do better than break even.  But the congressmen stepped in saying that he was gouging his customers, and they then amended the barber law to include an upper limit on what prices, as they put it, "Big Hair" could charge.

The barber could no longer make a living cutting hair. He tried to close his shop one day to go dig ditches for a living, but the congressmen were there again to say that the barber industry is essential and “too big to fail”. (On top of that, he had the further problem of not having apprenticed 5 years in the Ditch Digger's Union.) "Everybody has a right to decent hair care", they bellowed. So they took his shop over and charged everyone in the country(in the name of fairness) a new, addtional tax so that they could hand out free haircuts for everybody, except the greedy barbers who caused this mess.

And in the next election they campaigned on the premise that they had stemmed a major hair care crisis, and that they had brought everyone free hair care.   They wanted to be re-elected for their foresight and benevolence.

And that ... is the real difference between the citizens of our country and the politicians who run it.