And down came the Good Fairy, and she said:

"Little Rabbit Foo-Foo. I don’t want to see you, picking up the field mouse and bop him on the head. I’ll give you just three chances. And then I’ll turn you into a goon!"

"Decent people give second and third chances because they are decent. Unfortunately, indecent people take advantage of decent folk. Everyone should have a limit on their patience."

What is it about the number three? Is it really magic? For some reason, one is nothing, two is worth referencing but the number three, seems to be a threshold when it comes to the testing of limits. Three on a match is bad luck. Two is company, three is a crowd. Peter denied Christ three time before the cock crowed. Was Peter's sin of disloyalty worse because he committed it thrice as opposed to once? What is your magic number? How many times will you put up with a mistake or error from a vendor before you say, enough is enough is enough? How long can you maintain your divine patience before you go off like a siren?

Maybe you never heard the "Little Rabbit Foo Foo" song. It's a parable about chances and we used to sing it all the time when I was a child. Seems there was this obnoxious little bunny named Foo-Foo, who got his kicks by beating tiny mice about the cranium. Apparently, Foo-Foo had neither a mother or father that was willing to discipline the nasty critter. The mice, being tiny, were unable to wage an effective attack on Foo-Foo. So the task of keeping the peace in the forest fell to the Blue Fairy. She was tolerant. She was good-hearted. However, she was a fairy and fairies have powers that far exceed the talents of bunnies, mice and men. The Fairy very clearly warned Foo-Foo that she would give him three chances to stop bopping field mice on the head. She laid out the consequence of disobedience right off the bat.

"I'll give you just three chances and then I'll turn you into a goon."

As the song progresses, in three different instances, the Blue Fairy catches Little Rabbit Foo-Foo, inflicting head injuries on defenseless rodents. Each time she sings the warning verse, cutting back the chances by one, with each stanza. After the third mouse attack, she sings:

"Little Rabbit Foo-Foo
I don't want to see you
Picking up the field mouse
and bop him on the head.
I gave you three chances.
And now I shall turn you
into a Goon!"

Morality lessons lie in almost any childish story or song. There's also an unnerving amount of these tales centering on that damned number three. The troll in "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" is scammed and then murderously dispatched by the three goat brothers." The Three Bears" are terrorized by an evil girl with gold hair, each one suffering over and again, in multiples of 3. In "Rumplestiltskin" the young woman will trade anything in order to experience three nights of gold spinning skill. All these tales teach some sort of moral lesson that hinges on the finality of the third action.

Which straw is your last straw? Is it the third one? How many chances will you give to that procrastinating designer? How many times will you allow that content provider to shortchange your order? Your website is offline for the third time in a month. Is the third time the last time for this hosting company? Who is the one starting to feel like a goon here? You or that layabout who keeps promising but never delivers?

People do indeed, make honest mistakes. Real life crisis happen even to slackers. Decent people give second and third chances because they are decent. Unfortunately, indecent people take advantage of decent folk. Everyone should have a limit on their patience. Sometimes, when you throw a rope to a drowning man, he pulls you under the tide with him. It's one thing to be magnanimous, it's another to be a fool.

Internet porn has created a work environment where almost everyone operates unmonitored. That lazy programmer says he is working on your script but his output says otherwise. Is the script worth the headache? Are you losing money while waiting for this supposed genius to complete his magic task? Is it time for some Blue Fairy-type retribution? Will you continue to dole out chances to those that you do business with? Or will you finish it and live by the moral of Little Rabbit Foo-Foo?

Hare today. Gone tomorrow.