politeness pays off

  There were two men who went out to eat together, and they ordered fish. So onto the table came two fishes. Normally, not all fish are alike in size; there was one small and one big. So the first man took the big one for himself, without asking or feeling ashamed or anything. He took the big fish for himself and ate it. The other friend felt very disturbed and annoyed, but he didn't know what to say. So he thought for a while, and then said, "If it were me, I would have taken the smaller one first." And the other guy said, "See! I knew that! That's why I took the big one."