In the middle of a large, busy city, there stood a small parking lot. Two vehicles always parked in it. One of them was a firetruck and the other a police car. Both vehicles were always prepared and ready to go help someone in the city. People often called them for various reasons. One time there was a fire, another time a car crash. All the people in the city were glad to have these vehicles. But over time the vehicles grew smug and started boasting and arguing between themselves.
“I can save people from a fire and extinguish the fire,” the firetruck said. “Pfft, that’s nothing. I can catch robbers. No one can drive as well and as fast as I can,” the police car replied. It went on like this every day. The vehicles one-upped one another, arguing who was better. Until one day they did something they shouldn’t have.
“If you’re that wonderful and you can do everything better than I can, let’s switch jobs,” the firetruck said during one of their arguments. “You’ll go out to fires and other things that I do and I will go out to your calls. Let’s see if you can do what I can. We’ll see who is better,” the firetruck continued. And that’s exactly what they did. After all, the police car couldn’t let the firetruck intimidate him.
Both vehicles stood there in the parking lot, waiting for the first call. Then the alarm sounded. Somewhere in the city, a cat had climbed into a tree and a child had climbed after it. But now they couldn’t get down and couldn’t hold on for much longer. The police car immediately started driving towards the scene. It arrived very quickly, but now what? The car didn’t have a ladder and it wasn’t tall. It couldn’t help either of them.
Meanwhile in the parking lot, the alarm sounded again. A robber was escaping from the city and had to be caught. The firetruck set off after him. It tried to go as fast as possible, but it was no good. The firetruck was big and carried a big ladder and hoses for putting out fires. It couldn’t turn at a high speed in order to catch the robber.
For a long time, the police car and the firetruck both tried to figure out how to manage the other’s job. But in the end, they had to admit that it simply wasn’t possible. They called each other and had to switch places. The police car started chasing after the robber and the firetruck went to help the kitty and the child in the tree. Luckily, everything ended well.
Later, when the vehicles met again in the parking lot, they were both ashamed. They realized that they’d been acting too proudly, that they’d had no right to become boastful and argumentative.
From then on, all is in order in the city. Two kind and skillful vehicles now stand in the parking lot. One of them is a firetruck, the other a police car. They don’t argue or tease one another anymore. They are ready to help with exactly those things that they do best.
