The Parable of the Two Old Gossips

One day while teaching, Josh was asked, ”Teacher, while everyone is making noise about the U.S. government spying on the Internet, who’s keeping an eye on the Internet spying on the Internet?”

Josh spoke thus:

Two old gossips were looking down the street.

“Number 27 is having problems, I heard,” one old gossip said.

“Number 27 is always having problems,” the second old gossip said, “Number 25 and Number 29 are starting to complain.”

“Number 25 is part of the problem,” the first old gossip said, “If it weren’t for Number 25, Number 27 wouldn’t be nearly so unsettled.”

“Well if a certain Number 4 hadn’t gotten Number 27’s eyes wandering, Number 25 wouldn’t have had an opportunity,” the second old gossip said.

“Number 25 is always going to have an opportunity,” the first gossip said.

“That’s the type Number 27 is, I suppose,” the second old gossip said.

“Never mind Number 27,” the first old gossip said, “Those as are like Number 25 will always have some Number’s eye.”

“If it were just the eye, that wouldn’t be such a problem,” the second old gossip said.

Both old gossips laughed.

“So what is it with Number 10, then?” the first gossip asked.

“Haven’t you heard?” the second old gossip asked, “Number 10’s made a complaint.”

“Who did Number 10 complain to?” the first old gossip asked.

“To the Rozzer,” the second old gossip said.

“To the Rozzer?” the first old gossip said, “Who complains to the Rozzer?”

“The last person we need getting their nose in our business is the Rozzer,” the second old gossip said.

“My point exactly,” the first old gossip said, “What’s this world coming to when a Number is running to the Rozzer?”

“You can’t blame Number 10, though,” the second old gossip said.

“Oh, I can too blame Number 10,” the first old gossip said, “There’s nothing the Rozzer can do about it but cause problems.”

“Sometimes a higher authority can help,” the second old gossip said.

“All a higher authority can do is get us all in trouble,” the first old gossip said, “Our problems are our problems, not the Rozzer’s.”

“So what do we do about Number 10?” the second old gossip asked.

“Excommunicated,” the first old gossip said, “Cut the flow off at the tap.”

“Excommunication will kill Number 10,” the second old gossip said.

“Then Number 10 should have kept quiet,” the first old gossip said, “Spread the word: excommunicated.  Oh, and find out about number 27.  I might want a bit of that.”