Waiting for the Fish?.... by Farhad Mafie

One day Khatami was fishing in a dried river. A famous Iranian leftist was passing by and saw Khatami repeatedly throwing a huge net at the bottom of the river.

Curious, he asked Khatami, “What are you doing with this net in this dried-out river?"

Khatami responded, "As you can see, I am trying to fish." The leftist said, “But the river has been dried for many, many years."

“You are correct," Khatami responded. "There is no water and there are no fish here today. But I am waiting for the rain, lots of rain. Once we have lots of rain, we will have huge floods, and then this river will be filled with water. After a few years it will have fish and then I will be able to catch some."

The leftist, who was very impressed by the strategy, said, "That is a great, fantastic and innovative idea! I am going to sit next to you and wait for the rain, for the flood, for the river to fill with water, for lots of fish, and finally for a net full of fish."

A few days later a skeptic who was passing by saw Khatami and the leftist trying to fish in the dried-up river. He asked Khatami, "What are you doing here?" Khatami repeated the story for the skeptic. The skeptic looked at Khatami and with sarcasm and laughter said, "You are indeed dumb and deluded."

With his usual smile, Khatami immediately responded, "No, I am neither dumb nor deluded. I am just doing my job! Believe me, I know precisely what I’m doing! But if you want to see someone who is really dumb and deluded, check out the guy sitting next to me ... he’s waiting to capitalize on my future successes! "