What do you think of this parable(shortened due to character restrictions)?

Question

There was a group of people walking in the desert, near death, suddenly when hope seemed lost they happened upon a young man walking,
they said, "young man, do you know the way out of this desert?" To which the young man replied yes, and I will show you the way to an oasis

Relieved the group followed the man for days.
on the 15th day they stopped and said, "you lied to us, it has been fifteen days and we have not seen anything but our own footracks now we will die for sure."
The young man responds, "Trust me we are close."
They look out into seemingly endless dessert in disgust, then turn and kill the man out of anger and start off the way they came. They all died in the heat of the dessert. but the oasis was just over one more hill.

Answer 1

Not much of a parable.

Is this suppose to get people to blindly follow someone who says they will help in case they actually can? That doesn't seem like such good advice. Perhaps if the boy were more open about the path he was taking and how long it will be, the rest wouldn't have given up so easily.

Answer 2

It's not, imo, a very good parable. They were already dehydrating and the kid walked them another 15 days. If it were me I'd have been questioning a LONG time before 15 days. In fact, if they were near death it wouldn't be much more than a day before they were dead.

I suppose the meaning I would take out of this 'parable' is "If you're going anywhere near the desert be sure to take a map, a compass and a lot of water."

Answer 3

Well, either they should have been more patient OR...the young man should have been more honest about it.

The young man saying "We have a ways to go, but hang in there." sure would have made more sense.

Answer 4

They had no trust. If they had trust in the man, he would have led them to paradise.

Answer 5

I agree - foreigners should allow locals the benefit of the doubt....

Answer 6

That is very depressing.