The Parable of the Unexceptional Child

Josh lives.  Josh walks.  Josh breathes.  Josh speaks. 

One day while teaching, Josh was asked, ”Teacher, what is the secret to finding my one true love?”

Josh spoke thus:

There was a child who would not eat.

“I do not like it,” the child said.

“Well, that’s a little predictable, isn’t it?” the child’s mother said.

The child did not answer.  Neither did the child eat.

“Your son will not eat,” the child’s mother said to the child’s father.

“Well, that’s a little predictable, isn’t it?” the child’s father said to the child’s mother.

“That’s what I said,” the child’s mother said to the child’s father.

“Why is your child so predictable?” the child’s father asked the child’s mother.

The child’s mother did not answer.  The child did not eat.

“Did your child taste it?” the child’s father asked the child’s mother.

The child hadn’t tasted it.

“Then how does your child know your child doesn’t like it?” the child's father asked the child’s mother.

“Your child gets this predictability from you,” the child’s mother said to the child’s father.

“Your child’s stubbornness is your stubbornness,” the child’s father said to the child’s mother.

The child did not eat.

“It was good, too,” the child’s mother said.

“Yes, it was good,” the child’s father said.

“A pity,” the child’s mother said.

“Yes, a pity,” the child’s father said.

“Will our child grow up to be a non-eater?” the child’s mother asked the child’s father.

“I’m not a non-eater,” the child’s father said to the child’s mother, “And I don’t think you’re a non-eater.”

“Statistically, children of eaters grow up to be eaters,” the child’s mother said to the child’s father.

“So this is just a phase, then,” the child’s father said.

“So this is just a phase,” the child’s mother said.

The child’s father and the child’s mother both sighed.

“That is so unexceptional,” the child’s mother sighed.

“That is so unexceptional,” the child’s father said.

The child sighed.