I WASN'T EXPECTING THAT. I wasn't expecting that until today.

The story takes place in ancient Egypt. Historians mistakenly assume that the Pharaoh was a despot. In reality, he took care of his people, but he also had personal ambitions. He wanted to build something grand, something that would commemorate him. However, he knew perfectly well that if he made people work hard just for his whim, they would rebel. They would form unions, elect the least competent but most media-savvy representative, and as always, they would overthrow tyranny.

So, he devised a cunning plan.

He hired marketing professionals who, at his request, created an advertising campaign extolling the health benefits of onions. An onion that's good for everything. It wasn't a wrong behavior on the part of the Pharaoh, just a slight distortion of reality, exploiting his market position. The people fell for it. Everywhere, there were papyri extolling the onion. Onion soup started being served in the taverns, onion meatballs were bought in the groceries, and onion bread and sandwiches filled the bakeries with their aroma early in the morning. People were happy, knowing that the Father of the Nation was taking care of their healthy lifestyle.

Years passed.

However, as often happens, the onion-based menu began to irk the people. Rumors started circulating. Complaints grew louder and louder. In some places, there was even talk of open protest.

The Nile was boiling!

In cafes, markets, and shoe stores, people only talked about being fed up with onions. It was decided that a delegation would be sent to the Pharaoh, with the task of convincing the Father of the Nation to abandon the onion-based menu. And so it was. The delegates appeared before the sovereign on the appointed day, who listened attentively to their arguments before starting a discussion.

A curiosity: In the archives, one can find a papyrus with the record of that meeting. Here is a part of the statements – "Golden King, the onion is health, the sun and the moon reflected in the waters of the divine Nile, and to live in a country that smells of onion is the utmost happiness. We are enormously happy to know that we owe all this to You, sovereign. However, after so many years of eating onion soup, eating it with onion bread, drinking onion infusions, and savoring onion pies as dessert, in our simple thoughts creep in memories of other flavors. Sweet and bitter flavors, pleasant and sharp, loved and unloved."

"So what do you want?" – asked the Father of the Nation.

"To return to those memories, sovereign," they replied. "Return to the flavors of the past. We want a breath of freshness."

"A breath?" – he asked.

"Yes, sovereign. We are ready to thank you for your commitment to the good of the State. For your kindness and nobility. For your care of our lifestyle. We want you to be remembered forever as a good king. Just say a word and the people will reward you for your concerns, Father of the Nation."

"It just takes one word from me?" – asked the Father of the Nation.

"Yes, Golden King." "We have therefore decided that the most appropriate choice would be a great construction, a monument or something of the sort. Just say what it will be, and we will act."

Another curiosity: a note from the palace scribe, obliged by court regulations to neutrality – "The most powerful of the Lords of the desert, the Conductor of the Sun and the Moon, the Golden King, Great Enhancer of the Eternal Nile, Father of the Nation, Pharaoh, smiled mischievously, raised an eyebrow and with obvious satisfaction said: - I want a pyramid."

Already on the following day, people willingly rushed to the stone quarries, working with copper chisels and stone hammers to cut and carve twenty-ton granite blocks, then transported them to the construction site situated so that the Pharaoh could see it from the balcony of his palace, and piled them there at a rate of thirty per hour. Lover of his people, the Father of the Nation, with just one signature on a papyrus, restored the onion menu. The pyramid was built in just thirty-five years. It's still there next to the Nile, commemorating the Pharaoh's efforts to make life better for his people.The story takes place in ancient Egypt. Historians mistakenly assume that the Pharaoh was a despot. In reality, he took care of his people, but he also had personal ambitions. He wanted to build something grand, something that would commemorate him. However, he knew perfectly well that if he made people work hard just for his whim, they would rebel. They would form unions, elect the least competent but most media-savvy representative, and as always, they would overthrow tyranny.

So, he devised a cunning plan.

He hired marketing professionals who, at his request, created an advertising campaign extolling the health benefits of onions. An onion that's good for everything. It wasn't a wrong behavior on the part of the Pharaoh, just a slight distortion of reality, exploiting his market position. The people fell for it. Everywhere, there were papyri extolling the onion. Onion soup started being served in the taverns, onion meatballs were bought in the groceries, and onion bread and sandwiches filled the bakeries with their aroma early in the morning. People were happy, knowing that the Father of the Nation was taking care of their healthy lifestyle.

Years passed.

However, as often happens, the onion-based menu began to irk the people. Rumors started circulating. Complaints grew louder and louder. In some places, there was even talk of open protest.

The Nile was boiling!

In cafes, markets, and shoe stores, people only talked about being fed up with onions. It was decided that a delegation would be sent to the Pharaoh, with the task of convincing the Father of the Nation to abandon the onion-based menu. And so it was. The delegates appeared before the sovereign on the appointed day, who listened attentively to their arguments before starting a discussion.

A curiosity: In the archives, one can find a papyrus with the record of that meeting. Here is a part of the statements – "Golden King, the onion is health, the sun and the moon reflected in the waters of the divine Nile, and to live in a country that smells of onion is the utmost happiness. We are enormously happy to know that we owe all this to You, sovereign. However, after so many years of eating onion soup, eating it with onion bread, drinking onion infusions, and savoring onion pies as dessert, in our simple thoughts creep in memories of other flavors. Sweet and bitter flavors, pleasant and sharp, loved and unloved."

"So what do you want?" – asked the Father of the Nation.

"To return to those memories, sovereign," they replied. "Return to the flavors of the past. We want a breath of freshness."

"A breath?" – he asked.

"Yes, sovereign. We are ready to thank you for your commitment to the good of the State. For your kindness and nobility. For your care of our lifestyle. We want you to be remembered forever as a good king. Just say a word and the people will reward you for your concerns, Father of the Nation."

"It just takes one word from me?" – asked the Father of the Nation.

"Yes, Golden King." "We have therefore decided that the most appropriate choice would be a great construction, a monument or something of the sort. Just say what it will be, and we will act."

Another curiosity: a note from the palace scribe, obliged by court regulations to neutrality – "The most powerful of the Lords of the desert, the Conductor of the Sun and the Moon, the Golden King, Great Enhancer of the Eternal Nile, Father of the Nation, Pharaoh, smiled mischievously, raised an eyebrow and with obvious satisfaction said: - I want a pyramid."

Already on the following day, people willingly rushed to the stone quarries, working with copper chisels and stone hammers to cut and carve twenty-ton granite blocks, then transported them to the construction site situated so that the Pharaoh could see it from the balcony of his palace, and piled them there at a rate of thirty per hour. Lover of his people, the Father of the Nation, with just one signature on a papyrus, restored the onion menu. The pyramid was built in just thirty-five years. It's still there next to the Nile, commemorating the Pharaoh's efforts to make life better for his people. I WASN'T EXPECTING THAT. I wasn't expecting that until today.