The Best We Could Serve You

THE BEST WE COULD SERVE YOU

There was once a man who went to the office every day in his expensive car, and made important decisions and signed big contracts. Often, the important man would enjoy business lunches with his clients, and would try to distract the attention of his influential guests away from the unsavoury spectacle of the beggars on the streets of his city.

One evening, after a hard day making money, he packed his briefcase to go home, where supper would be waiting for him. As he was locking his desk for the night, he caught sight of a stale sandwich lying abandoned at the back of the drawer. Without much thought, he crammed it in his coat pocket. No need for it to go moldy and mess up his desk. And on the way out to the car park, he saw a street beggar on the steps, huddled in an old blanket. "Here, my friend," he said to the beggar. "Here is something for your supper." And he gave him the stale sandwich.

That night, the man dreamed that he was away on a business trip. After the day’s meeting, he was taken with his fellow directors to the town’s most luxurious restaurant. Everyone gave their orders, and settled down with their aperitifs to look forward to a convivial evening.

The orders arrived: Medallions of venison, Lamb cutlets with rosemary and garlic, and Caviar. The dishes being brought to the table brought gasps of delight from all the company. Then the man’s own order appeared. A waitress set in front of him one small plate, on which was served a stale sandwich.

"What kind of service is this?" the man demanded, enraged. "This isn’t what I ordered! I thought this was the best restaurant in town!"

"Oh, sir," the waitress told him, "You’ve been misinformed. This isn’t a restaurant at all. This is heaven. We are only able to serve you what you have sent on ahead while you were alive. I’m very sorry, sir, but when we looked under your name, the best we could find to serve you was this little sandwich."