So you thought kids were bad these days...

At some point in the 15th century lived a man named Ichiro who was something of a scholar and philosopher and as most scholar/philosophers do lived as a hermit. He did so in a town called Sakai (the same town where tea master Sen no Rikyu would live and die.) His relevance on a page dedicated to tea stories is that he is known to have taken tea with the tea master Ikkyu at some point in his life and was in possession of a tea pot that has it's own tales and that he referred to as "The Handy Pot". The odd part of his life, though doubtfully the only odd part, is the way in which he died. No, it does not directly have anything to do with tea but does exemplify the lengths someone will go to when trying to make a point.

Ichiro had built a window into the wall that faced his garden that people would give him offerings through. It is not known if there was a sign on it stating that he was a veteran, but I suspect not. Apparently the children of the town took to throwing straw horse shoes and dung into it as a joke or perhaps as a rite of passage much like children growing up in the eighties would challenge each other to go up to the "scary German guy's" house and ring the bell. Well, he wasn't as inclined to invite these kids into the house for pie. Instead he sadly proclaimed that he was living in "...a degenerate age!" and proclaimed that he "...would have no more to do with it." At which point he stopped eating and eventually died as a result.

The moral of this story is first don't throw crap into people's windows. Or if you are a parent and you think that your child may have thrown crap into some ones window you should invite the crazy person over for some tea. He might just have a very good recipe for pie. Oh, and teach your damn kids some manners.

Now go have a nice cup.