A man went to Europe for two months and left his beloved and prized cat
with his brother and mother who shared a home.
After a week or so, he called home to see how everything was going.
"Well," his brother told him, "the cat took a header off the roof and died."
"Oh, NO!!!" cried the man! "I'm devastated! And how could you deliver the
news in such a cavalier fashion! That cat was like family to me!"
"The cat's DEAD, for heaven's sake! What did you WANT me to tell you?"
asked the brother.
"Well, you could have told me that the cat is on the roof and you can't get
him down. Then, when I called next time, you could have said that the fire
department was there with a ladder but the cat was eluding them. When I next
called you could have said that the cat jumped off the roof and had been
taken to the vet where he was in surgery. Finally, when I had been prepared
by all the previous calls for potential disaster, you could have told me that
he didn't make it out of surgery. All of this would have let me get more
prepared for the tragic outcome."
"Ok," his brother said. "I get it."
A few weeks later, the man called home again, he inquired as to how
everyone was doing. "Well," replied his brother, "Mama's on the roof and we
can't get her down."