A Jew got into a train and when it had started he noticed
that a coreligionist was sitting opposite with a large cage at his side
containing a queer-looking animal. “What sort of animal have you got there?” he
asked.
“It’s a a mongoose,” replied the other.
“A long goose?”
“No, a mongoose!”
“Oh! And what’s a mongoose?”
“A mongoose is an animal that eats snakes.”
“And what do you want with an animal that eats snakes?”
“Well, you see, my father-in-law suffers from
nightmares. Every night he goes to
sleep, he dreams that he is being followed by snakes. So I thought if I give him a mongoose, he won’t
see any more snakes.”
“Oh! I see…But…er…they’re not real snakes.”
“Well, it isn’t a real mongoose.”
-Friday Night Book
We all have bogeymen, things that keep us awake at night,
terrors that wait in the dark. Sometimes
the greatest gift we can deliver to someone we care about is to take them
seriously and help them work through their fears. In other words, do not make fun of what frightens them or dismiss them. Fears are very
real to those that hold them.
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