The Parable Of The Pipeline Pablo and Bruno Part 1

The Parable Of The Pipeline
Pablo and Bruno

Part 1

by Burke Hedges

Once upon a time long, long ago, two ambitious young cousins named Pablo and Bruno lived side by side in a small Italian village.

The young men were best buddies, and big dreamers.

They would talk endlessly about how someday, someway, they would become the richest men in the village. They were both bright and hard working. All they needed was an opportunity.

One day that opportunity arrived. The village decided to hire two men to carry water from a nearby river to a cistern in the town square. The job went to Pablo and Bruno.

Each man grabbed two buckets and headed to the river. By the end of the day, they had filled the town cistern to the brim. The village elder paid them one penny for each bucket of water.

"This is our dream come true! "shouted Bruno. "I can't believe our good fortune."

But Pablo wasn't so sure.

His back ached and his hands were blistered from carrying the heavy buckets. He dreaded getting up and going to work the next morning. He vowed to think of a better way to get the water from the river to the village.

Pablo The Pipeline Man:

"Bruno, I have a plan," Pablo said the next morning as they grabbed their buckets and headed for the river."Instead of lugging buckets back and forth for pennies a day, let's build a pipeline from the village to the river."

Bruno stopped dead in his tracks.

"A pipeline! Whoever heard of such a thing?" Bruno shouted. "We've got a great

job, Pablo. I can carry 100 buckets a day. At a penny a bucket that's a dollar a day! I'm rich!. By the end of the week, I can buy a new pair of shoes. By the end

of the month a cow. By the end of six months I can buy a new hut. We have the

best job in town. We have weekends off and two weeks paid vacation every year. We're set for life! Get out of here with your pipeline."

But Pablo was not easily discouraged. He patiently explained the pipeline plan to his best friend. Pablo would work part of the day carrying buckets, and part of the day and weekends building his pipeline.

He knew it would be hard work digging a ditch in the rocky soil. Because he was paid by the bucket he knew his income would drop. He also knew it might take a year or two before his pipeline would pay off. But Pablo believed in his dream and he went to work.

Bruno and the rest of the villagers began mocking Pablo, calling him "Pablo The Pipeline Man." Bruno, who was earning almost twice the money as Pablo, flaunted his new purchases. He bought a donkey outfitted with a new leather saddle, which he kept parked outside his new two-story hut. He bought flashy clothes and fancy meals at the inn. The villagers called him Mr. Bruno, and they cheered when he bought rounds at the tavern and laughed loudly at his jokes.

To be Continue