What would you do if you had a free wish?
There is a story about a married couple that had a terrible fight. The wife stormed out of the house and vowed never to return. On the driveway she tripped over something she had never seen before – an Aladdin’s Lamp. She picked it up, rubbed it, and sure enough, a Genie popped out.
“I am at your command,” the Genie says. “I will grant you three wishes for whatever you desire.” Naturally, she is over-joyed. But the Genie tempers her enthusiasm: “I must tell you, that whatever you get, your husband will get twice as much.” The wife wasn’t too thrilled with this, but decided to go along.
“First,” she said, “I would like a million dollars.” POOF!! Just like that a million dollars lay at her feet. She leaps for joy, but comes back to earth when the Genie reminds her Ol’ Meanie in the house received two million. “Are you sure you want to go on?” he asked.
“Sure,” she says, with a little less enthusiasm. “Next, I’d like a pile of diamonds, three feet high.” POOF!! Right next to the money, a mound of sparkling diamonds appears, a yard high. “I don’t mean to dampen your fun,” the Genie cautions, “but your husband is sitting in his Lazy Boy recliner with a pile of diamonds on both sides of him. “Would you like to forget that last wish?”
She thought for a moment or two, but then said, “No, Genie, I’d like that last wish. “What I want you to do is … scare me half to death!”
Illustration continues:
Death as solution. It’s just a joke, of course, and we chuckle over it, but is it all that fanciful when we know there are those who will kill for less, and those who will use death to solve an unhappy situation, and try to take away wealth?
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Another version by Roddy Chestnut:
A depressed woman was walking along the beach when she saw a bottle on the sand. She picked it up and pulled out the cork. Whoosh! A big puff of smoke appeared and out came a genie. “You have released me from my prison,” the genie told her. “To show my thanks, I grant you three wishes. But be careful, for with each wish, your mate will receive double of whatever you request.”
“Why?” the woman asked. “That jerk left me for another woman.”
“That’s just the way it is,” replied the genie.
The woman said, “O.K, give me a million dollars.” There was a flash of light, and a million dollars appeared at her feet. At the same instant, in a far-off place, her jerk husband looked down to see twice that amount at his feet.
“And your second wish?”
“Give me the world’s most expensive diamond necklace in the world.” Another flash of light, and the woman was holding a valuable necklace. At the same time her husband received two.
“Genie, is it really true that my husband has two million dollars and more jewels that I do, and that he gets double of whatever I wish for?” The genie said it was indeed true.
“Okay, genie, I’m ready for my last wish,” the woman said. “Scare me half to death.”