David received a parrot for his birthday. This parrot was fully grown

with a bad attitude and terrible vocabulary. Every other word was an

expletive. Those that weren’t expletives were, to say the least, rude.

David tried hard to change the bird’s attitude. He was constantly

saying polite words and playing soft music; he did anything he could think of.

Nothing worked. When he yelled at the bird, the bird got worse. If he

shook the bird, the bird got madder and ruder. Finally, in a moment of

desperation, David put the parrot in the freezer. For a few moments he

heard the bird squawking, kicking and screaming and then suddenly,

there was quiet. David was frightened that he might have actually hurt the bird

and quickly opened the freezer door.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto David’s extended arm and said: “I’m

sorry that I might have offended you with my language and actions, so I

ask for your forgiveness. I will endeavor to correct my behavior.” David

was astounded at the bird’s change in attitude and was about to ask what

had changed him… when the parrot continued: “May I ask what the chicken

did?”

– Author Unknown