Life is like a box of chocolates

Surely nobody throws away ice cream!
That would be extremely foolish!

A recent study found that the UK throws away an incredible £13 billion worth of food every year! There are just over 63 million people living in the UK, so that works out at £205.75 wasted per person. Just think of what you could buy with £200! You could buy every book and short story ever published by Charles Fudgemuffin, and still have over £150 left over!

Anyway, it got me thinking how important it is not to waste food, and I remembered this lesson when I recently received a box of chocolates as a thank you gift for a small favour I did for a friend. Although I appreciated the gesture, unfortunately I suffer from a chocolate allergy, so I was unable to enjoy the chocolates. I didn't want to appear ungrateful though, so I accepted the gift, and rather than throw the chocolates away, I decided instead to take them into work and leave them in the canteen with a message for people to help themselves.

Here's the box of chocolates, along with the note I wrote encouraging people to tuck in...

"Free to a good home!

I was given these as a gift, but unfortunately I suffer from a chocolate allergy, so if anybody wants them, help yourself!"

And here's what they found when they opened the box of chocolates...

An empty box! And the message...

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

April Fool!"

Obviously I haven't got a chocolate allergy! That was just a joke. Anyway, I'm sure that whoever opened the box of chocolates must have found it really amusing when they discovered there weren't free chocolates on offer after all, and that it was just an April Fool's Day trick.

Footnote: The moral of the story is always verify the facts for yourself. Never automatically trust someone, just because they tell you what you want to hear. And if you do blindly trust people, don't be disappointed when you finally discover you were fooled.