Benjamin was in jail serving 30 years for robbing banks. After serving about 12 years, he was notified that his uncle from Ludhiana had died and left him over $50,000. Benjamin was so happy when the warden told him he would put the money in trust until he was released. For the first time in years, Benjamin felt that he had something waiting for him on the other side of those prison walls.
The warden asked him if there was anything he wanted to buy before tying the money up. Benjamin thought about it for a moment and said he had read a lot about computers and wanted a computer. He explained that he wanted to learn more about technology and maybe use the years ahead to become knowledgeable about something useful. The warden smiled and said, “Sure,” and arranged for him to have one.
A brand-new Compaq computer arrived at the prison. Benjamin was thrilled. He spent hours studying it, reading the manuals, learning the programs, and experimenting with every key he could find. For a prisoner who had spent years behind bars, the computer seemed like a little piece of the outside world sitting right there in his cell.
After a few weeks, the warden visited him in his cell to see how he was doing. To his amazement, he saw the computer smashed on the floor. Pieces of the keyboard were scattered across the cell, the monitor was lying on its side, and Benjamin was sitting on his bunk looking absolutely furious.
The warden stared at the wreckage and then asked Benjamin what had happened. Benjamin said it didn’t work right and that he had gotten mad. He insisted that the computer would not even complete the simplest task, no matter how many times he tried. The warden shook his head and wondered how a man could destroy an expensive computer over something so minor.
The warden asked him what he wanted the computer to do. Benjamin sighed angrily and said he had wanted only one thing from the computer. One simple task. He had tried everything, but the computer had completely ignored him.
Benjamin pointed toward the broken keyboard and said, “I hit the escape key and nothing happened. I hit the key again and still nothing happened. I’m still here. I think I will sue Compaq.”
The warden looked at Benjamin, then at the prison bars, and finally back at the smashed computer. For the first time, he realized Benjamin had apparently expected the keyboard to do something the prison authorities had been unable to do for twelve years: let him escape.
And somewhere beneath the laughter, Benjamin probably wished there really were a key that could do exactly that.
# The Bank Robbery Where Everyone Got Richer Than the Thieves
There was this burglary, and the main burglar shouted to all the bank employees, “Nobody move, money belongs to the government, life belongs to you.” Everyone in the bank immediately laid down quietly. Nobody wanted to risk their life over money that technically belonged to someone else.
This is called “Mind Changing Concept” — changing the conventional way of thinking. Instead of panicking over the money, the employees suddenly realized that staying alive was far more important than protecting the bank’s cash.
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When the burglars got back to their hideout, the younger burglar, who had an MBA, told the older burglar, who was only primary-school educated, “Bro, let’s count how much we got.” The younger man was already excited by the thought of counting the enormous amount of money they had stolen.
The older burglar immediately stopped him and said, “You very stupid. So much money, how to count? Tonight TV will tell us how much we robbed from the bank!” The younger burglar looked at him in disbelief, but the older man seemed completely confident that his plan was much easier.
This is called “Experience” — sometimes experience is more important than paper qualifications!
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After the burglars left, the bank manager quickly told the bank supervisor to call the police. But just as the supervisor reached for the telephone, the manager suddenly stopped him and whispered, “Wait, wait, wait! Let’s put the 10 million pounds we embezzled into the amount the burglars robbed.”
The supervisor stared at the manager in shock. For a moment, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Then he realized that the robbery had created the perfect opportunity to hide their own crime. Instead of reporting only what had been stolen, they could quietly add their missing money to the total and make the burglars take the blame for everything.
This is called “Swim with the tide” — converting an unfavorable situation to your advantage!
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The next day, TV news reported that 50 million pounds had been taken from the bank. The burglars were stunned. They counted and counted and counted their money, but no matter how many times they counted, they could find only 20 million pounds.
The younger burglar became furious. He slammed the money onto the table and shouted, “We risked our lives and only took 20 million pounds, while the bank manager took 30 million pounds with a snap of his fingers!”
The older burglar sat quietly for a moment, staring at the television. Then he shook his head and said, “It looks like it is better to be educated to be a thief!”
And that was the moment when the burglars realized the most painful truth of the entire robbery: they had risked everything, broken into a bank, frightened dozens of people, and walked away with millions—only to discover that someone sitting safely behind a desk had apparently made even more money from their crime.
This is called “Knowledge is worth as much as gold!” — sometimes the person who understands the system can gain far more than the person who takes the greatest risk.
