Cheese Bread

A customer walks into my bakery and demands cheese bread. I ask for the ingredients. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small handful of flour. That’s it. Just flour.

"I already have flour," I tell him. "I’m a baker. Where’s the cheese?"

He looks at me with this calm, patronizing smile. "Don’t get hung up on the cheese," he says. "Look at my intentions. I came here for cheese bread, and as a customer, I’m the one providing you with business."

"Look, sir," I say, "I’m not a dairy shop. If you don't bring the cheese, I can't make the bread."

His face darkens. "You have a responsibility to this neighborhood. As a local business owner, it’s your duty to serve the community. You have to make it happen."

He’s older, and in this town, you don't argue with your elders. So, I sigh. "Fine," I say. I go out, buy the cheese with my own money, knead the dough, and fire up the oven. I wrap the bread up and hand it to him. "It’s ready," I say.

"Thank you so much," he says, beaming. "God bless your hands." He grabs the bag and starts walking toward the door.

"Wait!" I call out. "You didn't pay."

He stops and turns around, looking genuinely offended. "I waited here for you while you made that bread," he says. "I didn't complain about the wait, and I even thanked you. Don't you think you should appreciate that?"

"Are you kidding me?" I snap. "Is this a joke?"

"How dare you?" he shouts back. "After everything, you’re so ungrateful!"

I don't want a scene. I just want him gone. "Fine," I mutter. "Just take it. Enjoy your bread. You can settle the tab some other time."

But he isn't finished. "I came here as a favor to this bakery," he says, his voice trembling with fake hurt. "I even brought my own flour, and this is how you treat me?"

"Did I ask you to come here?" I yell.

He grows quiet, his voice dropping into a heavy, hauntingly "spiritual" tone.

"Listen, kid. Wherever there is power, there is responsibility. This is your shop; therefore, everything that happens under this roof is your burden. Life is a balance. You shouldn't look at the world so literally. In the physical world, it might look like I chose to be your customer. But in the spiritual realm, you chose me. You wanted me to come here.