The Other Side of the Story - "Say Cheese"

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The Other Side of the Story - Giving People the Benefit of the Doubt

Before you accuse someone of "taking the cake," perhaps you need to smile and …

"Say Cheese"

One day on the way home from work, I stopped by the neighborhood market. As I entered the store I saw a rare site in the freezer section: Kosher Cheesecake!! It was Rosh Chodesh Shevat, I remembered a custom to buy your wife a gift on Rosh Chodesh. (Well, actually, I love cheesecake, and I needed an excuse.) Anyway, before I knew it I was at the cashier buying a pizza-size Cappuccino Flavor Cheesecake. When I got home and presented my discovery, she was less enthusiastic about it than I was; I don’t know why. Perhaps she thought it was too big for the freezer, or maybe she had made a meat dinner that night… Whatever the case, we didn’t eat cheesecake that night and without any argument we put it in the freezer.

A few days later, I opened the freezer. IT WAS GONE! Not a trace remained. I thought she had returned it to the store. In spite of my strong urge to start an argument, I convinced myself that maybe there was another reason and I didn’t mention it.

Over a month later, my wife and I were going to visit some friends. As we were getting into the car, I saw the Cheesecake box in her hand! I can’t describe how happy I was. When I told her what I had thought, she smiled and said that since she bought a lot of frozen items, she had taken the cake to her mom to save it for us in her fridge. That night I had the best cheesecake ever.

We discussed the story with our friends and we talked about how easy it can be to make wrong assumptions, and how joyous it is when you are victorious against your inclination to start an argument.

FF, Encino, California

 


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Based on "The Other Side of the Story" by Mrs. Yehudis Samet, ArtScroll Series

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