PARABLE of the Donkephant

A donkey and an elephant had been in an arranged marriage for a very long time.  They hated each other but they were also cut from the same cloth.  No one else would have them or had any real use for them.  Their children (donkephants) were often forced to watched as they railed against each other at the dinner table.  They would repent and promise to get along for the good of the family, but after enough broken promises the kids knew it was just talk.  Their real goal was for one to turn the kids against the other.

They spent wildly, the elephant always blaming the donkey and the donkey blaming the elephant right back when the paychecks were too small to cover the bills.  They always paid the minimum on their credit cards and when they reached the limit, they simply raised their credit limit.  And they always waited until the last day of the month, but the mortgage always got paid.

They had an odd habit of getting divorced every four years and then getting remarried two months later.  Like I said, it was an arranged marriage and no one else would have them.

Now they really didn't care what got paid for, the truth is neither of them had ever held a job.  Their ten kids were the bread winners.  Two of them were out of work because the donkey and the elephant had been caught stealing from the kids' place of employment.  The business nearly went bankrupt until the other eight repaid the debt.

This summer the donkey decided (arbitrarily) it would not sign the checks to pay the mortgage or the credit card bills until the elephant parent agreed that they could only buy what the donkey wanted from now on.  "Funny said the elephant (arbitrarily)," I won't sign my name until you agree we can only buy the things I want.

"Why are you doing this?" their children asked.  "Because," the parents explained, "we're getting another divorce in fifteen months and we want you to choose again which one of us you want to live with for the next four years."  "So, you would risk our home and future to win some contest that happens every four years?"  "That's about the size of it," said the parents.  "Not only that, it doesn't matter which one of us you choose, we're the same in every way except our name and our pet projects.  Either way you choose, it's about us, not you."

The kids finally had no choice, five went with the donkey and five with the elephant.  The cycle that had been going on for generations continued until one kid from each side one day realized, maybe there are parents out there who will just do things the right way for us.  Maybe we could put ourselves up for adoption.  Anything would be better than this...TO BE CONTINUED