The sad tale of the greased watermelon - a true story
There was a day of games. We were divided into teams. Everyone played.
The highlight was the greased watermelon race. You grease up a watermelon. You throw it in the water. A bunch of people jump in after it. The person who gets it out of the water is the winner. Their team gets to eat the watermelon.
All of the girls in the race were from the same cabin. We were friends. We were tight.
We battled over the watermelon for a time. We were all exhausted. Nobody was winning.
We made a deal. We would all put a hand on the watermelon and walk out of the lake together. Nobody would lose because everyone would win. We would all get slightly smaller chunks of the watermelon.
Beautiful, isn't it? A bunch of 16 year old girls bucking the system, saying no to competition, choosing cooperation over self interest, pulling together for the good of all; a teaching moment. It ended up teaching me an alternate lesson.
As we were heading to the shore, Emily grabbed the watermelon, made a break for it, and "Won" the event. I think she should have been pilloried. She is everything that is wrong with human nature.
This is the force that the Obama administration is trying to fight. This is the force that I fear will win.
The highlight was the greased watermelon race. You grease up a watermelon. You throw it in the water. A bunch of people jump in after it. The person who gets it out of the water is the winner. Their team gets to eat the watermelon.
All of the girls in the race were from the same cabin. We were friends. We were tight.
We battled over the watermelon for a time. We were all exhausted. Nobody was winning.
We made a deal. We would all put a hand on the watermelon and walk out of the lake together. Nobody would lose because everyone would win. We would all get slightly smaller chunks of the watermelon.
Beautiful, isn't it? A bunch of 16 year old girls bucking the system, saying no to competition, choosing cooperation over self interest, pulling together for the good of all; a teaching moment. It ended up teaching me an alternate lesson.
As we were heading to the shore, Emily grabbed the watermelon, made a break for it, and "Won" the event. I think she should have been pilloried. She is everything that is wrong with human nature.
This is the force that the Obama administration is trying to fight. This is the force that I fear will win.