|
Barack Obama was visiting a primary school and he
visited one of the
classes. They were in the middle of a discussion related to words and
their meanings. The teacher asked the President if he would like to
lead the discussion on the word "tragedy." So our illustrious President
asked the class for an example of a "tragedy."
One little boy stood up and offered: "If my best friend,
who lives
on a farm, is playing in the field and a tractor runs over him and
kills him, that would be a tragedy."
"No," said Obama, "that would be an accident."
 A little girl raised her hand: "If a school bus carrying 50
children
drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy."
"I'm afraid not," explained Obama. "That's what we would
call great loss."
The room went silent. No other children volunteered.
Obama searched
the room. "Isn't there someone here who can give me an example of a
tragedy?"
Finally at the back of the room, Little Johnny raised
his hand. In a
quiet voice he said: "If the plane carrying you and Mrs. Obama was
struck by a 'friendly fire' missile and blown to smithereens that would
be a tragedy."
"Fantastic!" exclaimed Obama. "That's right. And can you
tell me why that would be tragedy?"
"Well," says the boy, "It has to be a tragedy, because it certainly
wouldn't be a great loss...and it probably wouldn't be an accident
either."
|
