Page 275 - ConvinceThemFlip

the secrets of the great communicators
feeding the horses. They try to give them hot dogs and
hamburgers and leftover pizza. Horses are vegetarians,
for heaven’s sake! They just sniff it and drop it right there.
Monday morning I have to pick up all the debris before it
attracts flies and rats and dogs.”
(On the second stone in the middle of the stream)
“So, I put up a DO NOT FEED THE HORSES sign, but the problem
got worse.”
“I’m not surprised,” I said. “Now all the people who
never even thought about feeding the horses see your
sign and get the idea, ‘Oh, let’s feed the horses.’”
“I thought it was because the sign was too pushy. So I
changed it to read PLEASE DO NOT FEED THE HORSES, but it’s got-
ten even worse.”
“Of course! Probably people now drive by and think,
‘Oh what a great idea, let’s stop and let Granny and the
kids feed the horses. This guy’s polite—he says “please”—
so he won’t mind.’”
(Leaping onto the last stone) “Nick,” said my neighbor,
“you’ve got to help me! I’m at my wit’s end. I give up.”
I scribbled a few words on a scrap of paper. “Try put-
ting this on your sign.”
I didn’t see him again until the end of summer. One
evening his truck pulled up in my driveway and my neigh-
bor got out smiling.
“Nick, your sign worked like magic!”
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