the word "tragedy"
President Bush 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 the illustrious leader 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 Bush, "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 the president. "That's
what we would call a great loss."
The room went silent. No other children volunteered.
Bush searched the room. "Isn't there someone here who
can give me an example of a tragedy?"
Finally at the back of the room a small boy raised his
hand. In a quiet voice he said: "If Air Force One
carrying you, vice president Chaney and Karl Rove was struck by a
"friendly fire" missile and blown to smithereens, that
would be a tragedy."
Fantastic!" exclaimed Bush. "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."