Honesty is the cheapest policy (story)

Dear Friends, I am Senior Sales Executive in Human Values Company. I sell policies that you can use for your lifetime. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to present our policies to you.

Policy that I am going to talk about today is unique in many ways. The policy is called 'Honesty is the cheapest policy.'

As you know, there are many such policies that are available for free. But, that is also the biggest challenge for us. What comes for free does not inspire us. So, we have mixed a little bit of your smile in it. The policy has now become infectious with your smile.

I will talk about how to buy this policy? How to use the policy? How can you end the policy in case you have a pressing need to do so? And, how to revive the policy in case it gets lapsed?

Let me tell you what happened six months ago when I visited a house in New Delhi area.

I gently knocked the door. "Madam, I am selling the 'honesty' policy from Human Values Company."

"We don't need honesty. We have enough of it. Thank you!"

Knock, knock, knock. "Madam, I am selling 'Honesty' policy from Human Values Company."

"Honesty? Which honesty policy are you selling? My husband often talks about honesty. I already have one from him. It's called 'Honesty is the best policy.' That's such a big brand."

"That's great madam, how is it going with the policy?"

"I got it for free. It's there. We have it but we don't use it actually."

"That's where we can help", I said.

"Our policy is called - 'Honesty is the cheapest policy'. We sell it at a very nominal price. You just need to pay a smile to buy this policy from us."

The lady said, "I already have it and I got it even without a smile."

"But, you have stopped using it. Moreover, you should know the benefits that come with our policy."

A child's cautious voice came, "Mama! You have never smiled at daddy. Do not smile at a stranger."

I said, "Madam, smile is also a good exercise for your beautiful lips."

Lady seemed to be interested now. "Hmmm. OK. I think, I need this policy. Let me smile now. Baby, don't tell your daddy about this. He may get confused."

"Madam please smile. It's easy to smile."

At last, the lady smiled. And then she said - "It felt nice to smile. How come you are able to sell this policy at such a lovely price?"

Now, the door was fully opened to welcome the visitor. "Mama, you look great when you smile", child said coming near to me.

I said, "Madam, you have the policy now. Just, keep using it."

"But you haven't told me how to use it?"

"Whenever someone points out your mistake, give a smile to that person. By doing this you will be using the 'honesty' policy and you get the chance to earn the commission of good suggestions to learn from your mistake."

"Wow, that sounds great. How do I stop it, in case I need to?"

"Madam, we have sold this policy to more than one million people till date and no one has broken the policy so far. But, to make you comfortable, let me tell you the very simple exit policy, we have. To stop the policy, you just need to stop smiling while talking to others. As soon as you do that people will stop telling you your mistakes. Human Values Company will immediately stop crediting good health points in the account of your life."

"What would that exactly mean?"

"Not much, just a few wrinkles on your face."

"That doesn't sound good. But, to smile is so difficult these days. Suppose I forget to smile while someone is giving me feedback. Will I lose my policy? Can I revive the policy?"

"Yes madam, there are two ways to revive the policy. Make sure to smile next time when someone gives you feedback. The other way, which is recommended by 'Human Values Company', is that you go to the same person with whom you were not able to smile. Greet him with a smile and ask for his feedback. Request for what you had missed last time."

"Do you yourself use it?", she asked.

"Yes, madam."

"How many smiles did you pay to get it?"

"I got it for free. I inherited it from my mother. I received it as my mother's grace. Similarly, your children have automatically become the joint policy holders. Moreover, every time you use the policy in front of them, good health points will be credited to their account of life as well. You just need to use the honesty policy with a smile on your face in front of them.

That is the best feature of this policy. In fact, I learned to smile in all circumstances from 'the honesty policy'."

"That sounds good. How did your mother get this policy?"

"She inherited from her father. Her father was a shopkeeper. To ensure the continuity of the policy he used to have two boxes to keep money - one for himself and one for income tax."

She was delighted with the good experiences shared with her. She said, "After a long time I am seeing my family smiling together. Shall we have a family photograph?"

By now, her husband had also joined us. "Oh yes, that will be great!", he said.

Photograph looked so great. This is the same family photograph that you see in our newspaper advertisements.

I am glad to tell you that I received an appreciation letter from them today morning. I would like to read that for you -

"We are happy owners of the policy called 'Honesty is the Cheapest Policy'. It is easy to practice. It has developed trust and we are enjoying strong relationships in the family.

We speak truth. We do not have to remember what we said last time. It takes away the burden from the mind. We are enjoying better health. We have cut down expenses on medical bills. We had never thought the 'honesty' policy could have been so beneficial. Everybody says, "Honesty is the best policy." We say, "It's best because honesty is the cheapest policy."