There was someone in my friend's seat. Either he was sitting in a wrong seat, or he wasn't supposed to be in this theatre - as it was almost already full house. In the dark, I passed my friend's ticket to him - telling him he could have it. There was silence for a while. Then he asked me to repeat what I said. He must have found it confounding. I repeated myself.
More patrons walked in. Turned out that he was with other friends, seated where they weren't supposed to be. They left together. They were forced to release the seats they were hogging. Actually, that guy I passed the ticket to didn't have to leave. I gave a totally free ticket with no strings attached.
Was I being sarcastic to a seat-stealer or generous to a stranger?
Was I “teaching” something?
I let him decide.
---from: Moonpointer * Buddhist Blog Community of Everyday Dhamma
