A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, then insured them against, among other things, fire.
Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company.
In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost 'in a series of small fires.' The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason, that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion.
The lawyer sued and WON!
Delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated nevertheless, that the lawyer held a policy from the company, which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire, without defining what is considered to be unacceptable 'fire' and was obligated to pay the claim. Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the cigars lost in the 'fires'.
NOW FOR THE BEST PART...
After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!
With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was sentenced to 24 months in jail... And a $24,000 fine.
(This is a true story and was the First Place
Okay so clearly this guy was a few fries short of a Happy Meal, but there’s more to bringing in this story than providing a good laugh.
Although we may not want to admit to doing so, or we try hard not to, most of us are guilty of judging other people. Fact is we are not G-d. So although sometimes we see a situation and can not help but think why does this “bad” person deserve these great things or vice versa, we really have no idea what is going on.
An honest example of this: I remember a girl I went to school with who in my eyes I thought had it all. She had the looks, the friends, money, a seemingly wonderful family but she could be very nasty and hurtful to people. I always wondered to myself how that was fair, to have no problems whatsoever and just lead this perfect life. Of course I eventually grew up and realized that a “perfect” life did not exist and I also learned things about this girl that growing up I did not know about. Her family was far from ideal; her parents on the verge of divorce and half the family not speaking to each other.
Big lesson for me.
There is so much more than meets the eye. You can look at a situation and wonder how G-d can be doing such a thing but all you’re seeing is one chapter out of the whole book, you have no idea what is yet to come or how the situation will actually play out.
P.S. Lesson for life- you can never win with these insurance companies!
Happy Tuesday :)
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