Prime Minister Stephen Harper 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 PM 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 Harper, "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 Harper. "That's what we would call great loss."
>The room went silent. No other children volunteered. Harper 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. Harper was
>struck by a "friendly fire" missile and blown to smithereens, that
>would be a tragedy."
>"Fantastic!" exclaimed Harper. "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 a fucking
>accident either"
Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:54 pm
