# I'm the treasurer — I can squeeze five more drops

- Teacher: Ajahn Brahm
- Type: Joke
- URL: https://beingmindfulstories.com/stories/brahm-joke-lemon-squeeze-treasurer
- Themes: humour, politics, Australia
- Life situations: budget season, needing a laugh

## Synopsis (editorial summary)

At a Northbridge pub an ex-Olympic wrestler offered free drinks to anyone who could squeeze five more drops from a lemon he had already crushed. Bikies, boxers and footballers failed. A thin man in a suit squeezed five drops easily — 'I'm the treasurer of Australia' (Wayne Swan / 'Bomber' budget gag).

## The story, as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)

there was a pub here in Perth there's a pub it's in in Northbridge a rough area well not really rough area but you know so the nightclub area and in that Pub they had a competition the bar man of that Pub the owner he used to be an Olympic wrestler and I retired so you've got a pub and he had a standing competition once he squeezed a lemon into you know a drink if anybody could actually squeeze five drops out of that lemon that have free drinks for the rest of the night because he was so tough when he squeezed a level you couldn't get anything else out and they had these tough bikie gang leaders they tried it this huge guys Taps all over them squeeze the lemon they couldn't get anything out after the the excess Olympic um wrestler uh squeezed it sometimes had his bodybuilders like Arnie Schwarzenegger sometimes these you know professional boxes weight lifters they all tried you know the footballers Eagles captains and and Fremantle Dockers no one could actually squeeze any drops out of until this one guy came in a suit one evening a really thin weak guy maybe about 40 50 years of age he said I want to try this and about it's forget it look at you got no muscles on you you won't be able to squeeze this out it says yes I can I can do this and so he got the lemon and he started squeezing him and squeezing it one drop came out true drops came out five drops came out they couldn't believe it how such a 50 or 60 year old guy I forget how old he is because squeeze all these drops out of her head and said who the heck are you and he said I'm the treasurer of Australia

## Teaching point

The one who looks weakest can still extract what muscle cannot.

## Reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)

A champion wrestler squeezes a lemon dry and dares anyone to get more out of it. Bikies and boxers fail; a thin man in a suit gets five drops: he's the federal treasurer. Ajahn Brahm laughs at budget season, then muses that truth can't be bottled. His newest quote: traffic jams are the Buddha's way of slowing you down.

## Source

- [Ultimate Reality | Ajahn Brahm | 5 May 2017](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVdJEqpyuuc) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 9:30 to 11:52: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVdJEqpyuuc&t=570s

Other tellings of this story:

- [2012 | Ajahn Brahm | 16-12-2011](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoEpUxoCke4) (Buddhist Society of Western Australia) — watch from 50:12 to 51:25: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoEpUxoCke4&t=3012s