I got some insulin shock inducing glurge in the mail yesterday. Some children (who in real life show as much kindness to those that are different as fireants shows to an earthworm) show unnatural kindness to a mentally and physically handicapped child. The boy's life mission of providing a heartwarming story for people to endlessly circulate in cyberspace, cheerfully expires a year later.
I got to thinking about this - why do the glurgemeisters always kill off the handicapped kid in their stories? Why do they hate handicapped kids so much? It brings to mind slasher movies (and that guy with the hook lurking up on Skyline Drive!)... the teens have been promiscuous. Their fate is sealed. They must be dismembered, that this the only possible outcome for them.
Filled with reformist zeal, I undertook the task of rewriting this glurge, giving it a much better ending. Please circulate this new version endlessly through cyberspace.
Thank you,
Matt
: Two Choices
What would you do? You make the choice. Don't look for a punch line, there isn't one. Read it anyway. My question is: Would you have made the same choice?
At a fund raising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: 'When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does is done with perfection. Yet my son, Georgie, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?'
The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. 'I believe that when a child like Georgie, physically and mentally handicapped comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.'
Then he told the following story:
Georgie and his father had walked past a park where some boys Georgie knew were playing baseball. Georgie asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' Georgie's father knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Georgie on their team, but the father also understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
Georgie's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Georgie could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'
Georgie struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. His Father watched with a small tear in his eye and warmth in his heart. The boys saw the father's joy at his son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Georgie's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Georgie put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Georgie's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Georgie was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Georgie bat and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Georgie was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Georgie didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.
However, as Georgie stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Georgie's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Georgie could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Georgie swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Georgie. As the pitch came in, Georgie swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Georgie would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates. Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Georgie, run to first! Run to first!' Never in his life had Georgie ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!' Catching his breath, Georgie awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Georgie rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball ... the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team. He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head. Georgie ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.
All were screaming, 'Georgie, Georgie, Georgie, all the way, Georgie'
Georgie reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third! Georgie, run to third!'
As Georgie rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Georgie, run home! Run home!' Georgie ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.
'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.
Georgie did indeed go all the way. He went on to become the President of the United States. It just goes to show that anything is possible if you are born into a large and influential crime family, your father was the head of the secret police and had many, many powerful friends in industry and politics.
AND NOW A LITTLE FOOTNOTE TO THIS STORY: We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate. The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces.
If you're thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you're probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren't the 'appropriate' ones to receive this type of message. Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a difference. We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the 'natural order of things.' So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice: Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?
A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.
You now have two choices:
1. Delete
2. Forward
May your day, be a Georgie Day.
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