Biting Spider

A Chance Encounter

Nelson Mandela, now President, found himself at a restaurant with his security detail. He spotted a man waiting in line and, with a surprising gesture, invited him to share their table. The middle-aged man hesitantly joined them, his demeanor increasingly nervous.

As soon as he finished his meal, the man practically bolted from the restaurant, sweat beading on his forehead. A security guard, noticing the man's frantic exit, commented on his earlier trembling hands.

"Is he unwell?"

Mandela: “Nah, he’s not unwell. He used to run the jail I was in. Every day he’d torture me. After hours of abuse I’d ask for water. He would just p*e in my mouth.”

Mandela went on… “Now I’m the president he probably thinks I will seek revenge. That’s why his hands were shaking and he was terrified.”

Mandela wasn’t interested in revenge.

He felt that revenge destroys the humanity inside of a person. He wanted to be patient and tolerant, so that he could grow as a person along with the rest of the citizens of South Africa.