A man taking his daily walk through the forest discovers a bush he had never seen before. He had always taken this same route, and he considered himself to be highly observant. So, why is there a full grown, brand new bush right on his path? How did it sprout up overnight? It wasn’t here yesterday. He decided he had to take a closer look. As he got closer, he discovered that it had a bunch of little berries on it. Now he thought he had seen every type of berry there was, but this was new. He picked one and examined it closely. It was mostly purple in color, but it leaned toward the red side. It was larger than a blueberry, but smaller than a blackberry. It was smooth in texture, and oblong in shape.
He was very curious about the taste, but how could he tell if it was poisonous? He wavered back and forth for several minutes, and then decided that it was worth the risk. He popped the wild berry into his mouth and bit down. Immediately, his mouth was flooded with the most incredible taste he had ever had. What kind of berry is this, and where has it been hiding all these years? He quickly ran home and found a basket, then went back into the forest and stripped the bush of all its berries.
That evening, he was still cautious about the berry being poisonous. He kept waiting to get sick. It never happened. He turned to the internet to see if he could find this berry, but no luck. It appeared that he happened onto a new, delicious species of fruit. Now, he wondered how to make the plant grow, and how it just “appeared” on his trail?
The next day, as he went on his daily walk through the forest, he saw his new bush again. To his amazement, it was covered in berries, just like the previous day, only today, there were even more. He went back home and got his basket, and ensured he picked every last one of the berries. He had to see if it would replenish itself again the next day. To his delight, it did, and then some.
He had a friend in town that was a botanist. He took some berries to him and asked him to identify them. His friend asked where he had found these, but he refused to say. His friend told him that he had never come across anything like it in all his years of study. He then went to his reference books, and still came up empty. This all but confirmed that they were looking at an undiscovered berry.
Sitting at home, he had a plan: he would gather the berries and take them to the local farmer’s market. A discovery like this needed to be shared with those around him, and eventually, the world, but why shouldn’t he profit from it? He carefully researched the prices and quantities that other berries were sold for at the market. The day before he was to open up, he harvested his crop, and divided it up into the portions for selling.
He set up a table at the market with a sign advertising the berries and their price (slightly less than other berries.) Then he set out a bowl for people to sample. If no one had ever heard of this berry before, they would be reluctant to buy it. However, he was confident that once people tasted what he had, they would buy it quickly. He was right – he sold out in 1 hour.
The next week, he would raise the price, and make more money. Throughout the week, he heard grumblings that he had put one product out to sample, but sold a different product. People said that the berry they bought was not as sweet, in fact, it was a little sour. They had all eaten better berries; it was not worth the price they paid for it. He did not understand. The samples all came from the same picking as what was sold. He made a public apology, and decided against raising the prices.
Market day came, and he set up again. This time, no sample bowl. He wanted people to take a sample from the bag they would be purchasing. That way, there would be no doubt that what he was selling was the same thing as he samples.
When the market opened, he had three types of people stop at his table. The first were prior customers who told him he had a lot of nerve to try selling his berries again after what he had done last week. They left without trying the new batch of berries. The second were prior customers who were willing to give him the benefit of doubt. They sampled the berries. The third were brand new customers. They also sampled the berries.
The benefit of doubt was shattered. These berries were worse than last week. He couldn’t believe it, so he tried some. His reaction told it all, he spit them out! This truly was a mystery. He had just eaten from the bush earlier in the week. How could the berries be bad a week ago, be good throughout the week, and be bad again today? He needed to go see his botanist friend again.
His friend had wondered how long it would take for him to come discuss the issue. After examining the fruit, he could not tell any difference between it and the fruit originally brought to him. He said, “Maybe the problem is in your approach. The bush miraculously sprouted up overnight on your trail. This is a gift from God. These berries were meant for you to share with the world, not sell to. You received without paying; give without being paid.”
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