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Another gem from Little Johnny
Gordon Brown was visiting Little Johnnie’s primary school.
They were in the middle of a discussion related to words and their
meanings. The teacher asked Mr. Brown if he would like to lead the
discussion on the word 'tragedy'.
So the Prime Minister asked the class for an example of a 'tragedy'
A little boy stood up and offered, 'If my best friend who lives on a
farm is playing in the field and a tractor runs him over and kills him,
that would be a 'tragedy'.
'No', said Gordon - '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 Gordon - 'that's what we would call a great
loss'.
The room went silent, no other children volunteered.
Gordon 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 a plane carrying you and Mr. Darling was
struck by a 'friendly fire' missile and the plane was blown to
smithereens, that would be a 'tragedy'.
'Fantastic!' exclaimed Gordon. 'That's right, and can you tell me why
that would be a tragedy?'
'Well' says little Johnny, ‘it has to be a tragedy, because it certainly
wouldn't be a great loss and it probably wouldn't be a f*cking accident
either!'
They were in the middle of a discussion related to words and their
meanings. The teacher asked Mr. Brown if he would like to lead the
discussion on the word 'tragedy'.
So the Prime Minister asked the class for an example of a 'tragedy'
A little boy stood up and offered, 'If my best friend who lives on a
farm is playing in the field and a tractor runs him over and kills him,
that would be a 'tragedy'.
'No', said Gordon - '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 Gordon - 'that's what we would call a great
loss'.
The room went silent, no other children volunteered.
Gordon 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 a plane carrying you and Mr. Darling was
struck by a 'friendly fire' missile and the plane was blown to
smithereens, that would be a 'tragedy'.
'Fantastic!' exclaimed Gordon. 'That's right, and can you tell me why
that would be a tragedy?'
'Well' says little Johnny, ‘it has to be a tragedy, because it certainly
wouldn't be a great loss and it probably wouldn't be a f*cking accident
either!'