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.
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