So let me tell you a story that really happened.
Since my youth i live in a village in the desert. Life is not bad here, at least for the standards we are used to. It could be better though if only we had some more water. Water is quite scarce, and in the last years it rained even less on our heads and the wells in the village are slowly drying up.
So one day, years ago, i was walking around the area at a small distance from the village, just over a hill. And there i noticed something.
Oh my, there is water here behind the hill, i noticed. I saw a small drip coming from a stone in the side of the hill.
Water! That is the most precious substance in our village. Everyone is always very thirsty and some are even desperate to get their hands on some more water ! This is a world changing discovery! I have to go to the village and tell them !
So i ran to the village square, and shouted : Water! i have found Water!
Looking around , i was waiting for the moment people would come and declare me the hero of the village, oh the honor and recognition!
But nobody came. They were all around the campfire watching the shows.
I was astonished. How is it possible, did they not hear me ? So i shouted again: Water!
There is a lot of water just behind the hill, come look!
Again, nobody came, leaving me in amazement about the situation. Why does nobody seem to care that i have found a lot of water close by the village ?
So i decided to go to the people themselves, and told them all about the water i had found. Every house, and every shop i came, i told people about the water just over the hill behind the village. I told them how good the water was and how fresh it tasted. But somehow people did not believe me. They said: Yea but we have never seen water over there, how come that you suddenly found water there? it is impossible !
But, but, did you look ?, i replied. So they said: We do not need to look. we just know there is no water there. Nobody ever found water there so why would you suddenly find water ? It cannot be true.
But, i cried, it is there, i saw it and i drank it ! it is real and i am not a fool ! But i noticed they stopped listening and just went on to do their daily tasks. Strangely enough, most of these tasks involved to try to find water. Water was very scarce in our village after all.
So after thinking for a while, i decided to just show them. So i took my bag and left for the water i had found, When i arrived, i cleaned up the place and made a nice looking well where the water was nice and clear.
And i drank. I drank so much i could not even believe it. I did not see so much water in my entire life. That felt really good!
So i went back to the village with my belly full of water and an extra bag of water with me to show the villagers. I smiled all the way home, knowing they would have no choice than to believe me now.
So i arrived, and went to the village square. Triumphantly, i shouted: Water! i have a lot of water here ! Come look !
Few hours later, there still was nobody. It so happened the games were on, and everyone was only talking about the games.
So i waited until the next day. i knew everyone would be very thirsty after the games so maybe they will see now that i have found more water than they would ever see in their lives.
But the next day, nobody came. So i went to some houses and asked: Why do you not see my water? why do you not want to drink some of it ?
So i went to my friends house first, and asked him if he was thirsty.
Of course i am thirsty, he replied. Everyone is thirsty here all the time, you know that. Water is very precious here.
I know, i replied, but i have found a new source of water. it is fresh looking, drinkable, and the well is just behind the hill. As you see i am not thirsty since i have drank a lot of it before i came here. and i have more in my bag. You can have some if you want!
Sorry friend, he replied. That in your bag cannot be water because there is no well behind the hill. You should read not too many fantasy books.
But..But.. i cried. I have water here. Just give me a cup and i will pour some for you!
I am not interested in your water, he replied. We do have a little bit of water here, enough to come by. We do not have plenty, and many times we are thirsty here. But your water we do not need, so there is no need for me to get up and get a cup. That is to much trouble now, i am too busy gathering water during the day and i am too tired now to stand up.
But, i said, but.. i have some water here and...
Shut UP !, he replied. I had enough of you now and your water nonsense! Get out my house now and do not come back until you have found some real water !
I wanted to mutter something but i swallowed it, and left the house. That night i was really confused. Why does nobody even want to look at my water ?
A few months went on, and i showed everyone exactly where the new well was and how to get water from it. It was easy, you just had to throw a bucket in the well and pull it up. But since the people in the village got their water in other ways, they could not conceive how to drop a bucket in a hole in the ground and get some water from it. They just could not imagine that. So they still never believed that there was any water in it.
Meanwhile in the village, no new rains had come, and the water that was scarce already, became even scarcer.
Then one day i decided to go leave the village and go live next to my well. So i build a farm there and started hauling water from the well. i irrigated my fields and made some really nice crops that year.
Sometime, once every few weeks, i visited the village and told them about my huge crops. Of course i took some examples of my crop to show them, because i learned form experience already.
Jeez, they said. Sure you have found a lot of water! I can see you have great crops! Unfortunately we can never grow such crops in the village here. We just do not have enough water.
But, i replied, as i said many times before, the water well is just here behind the hill!
Oh you silly boy. Are you starting now again about your water? We know there is no water there, because nobody except you have never seen it. And even if there is some water we are sure your well will dry up very soon, and then your land will be worthless!
But if you will just come look, i cried. It is just a few minutes walk and i can show you to get more water than you have ever seen in your life!
No my friend, they said. We are too busy today. There is a show tonight, and then all week i have to work to try to find some water. Maybe next week we will come and look at your water, if it is still there.
Shaking my head, i gave up. I went back to my oasis and lived there for many years.
Occasionally i went back to the village and traded some of my huge crops for some poor constructed furniture or any other things i needed. Then i silently went back to my oasis.
Nobody ever asked where i got my water from or how could they get some of it too. They were all too busy watching shows and collecting water during daytime.
One day someone came and visited me in my oasis. Wow, a visitor ! that did not happen for a long time!. So i was happy to see him and welcomed him. After feeding him with many of my crops he asked, so ... tell me where do you get your water?
Bright flashes went through my head. Finally, after so many years someone finally seemed to be interested in my well! . So i asked him, come with me outside, so i will show you my well.
So we walked to there, and i showed him the shaft that i dug many years before, and i showed him there was water at the bottom. I even demonstrated to him how to throw a bucket into it, attached to a rope so you can get it back filled with water.
See? i said. There is water in this bucket. Now try it yourself.
Naa , he replied, this is too complicated for me. How can you throw a bucket in a well and get it back? i don't get this. Maybe i am not smart enough to do this.
It is not complicated, i said. I felt i was almost there. Just throw your bucket in that well, and then pull it up again with the rope!
Naaaa, my friend replied. Its too difficult. besides, i have no time for it now, i have to get back to the village to collect some water for tonight.
And before i knew it, he went.
For many years i lived like this in my oasis. It was hard to keep my sanity. Occasionally, i heard from people in the village who had died from thirst. But that was life, they said. In a world that is so scarce with water it is hard to survive, they said. So it is only natural, and we cannot help it.
Then one day i got a visitor again. She told me that a while ago a merchant visited the village. He promised that they all would receive two bags of water, if they just gave him one bag. a sure deal ! So many villagers did that, they were all smiling and happy that they would receive two bags when the merchant came back... But after waiting many weeks, he never came back. So the situation was very dire in the village. Many more people died. Of course i showed her how to use my well as i always do when someone visits my oasis, but she also thought it was just too complicated to use the well.
Maybe one day, i keep telling myself, the people in my village will finally understand that there is water in my well and that everyone can use it very easily. But that day still has to come...
