Group Project

Greetings, readers! Last week, we looked at The Lazy Townspeople. This week I'm writing a modern version of that story. This week also wraps up Black History Month, but never fear. I'll come back to African fairy tales again.

With more people, sometimes this is your finished product.

When the teacher announced a group project, Bill tried not to groan. All he learned from group projects was how to do the work of several people by himself. They were supposed to create a poster and presentation about a disease. "Science class sure is fun," Bill thought as the teacher gave them time to sort themselves into groups.

Bill ended up in a group with two of his friends and another kid he had talked to a few times. At least he'd have fun in this group. It would have been easier to start planning their project if Bill hadn't been coughing so much. He'd been feeling crummy for a few days, but it didn't seem to be anything serious. He made a joke about doing their project on having a cold. However, they decided on strep throat. It was common and people didn't die from it, so it should be fairly easy to do. They made plans to meet at Crystal's house, one of his friends in the group, and then the bell rang.

The next day, Bill could barely get out of bed. He was so cold. His mom took one look at him and decided they were going to the doctor. Bill went back to bed while his mom made the appointment. Bill had started some of the research for his project the night before and before he went back to bed, he started to wonder if he had strep throat.

Once they went to the doctor, it turned out Bill did have strep throat. He started laughing and it took him a bit before he could explain the joke to his mom. While they were waiting for his pills at the pharmacy, Bill texted his group that he was going to be out for a few days. Bill was a little worried the project wouldn't get done. He liked his friends, but they were pretty lazy. Once he got home, he emailed them the research he had started doing.

The days passed slowly. Bill's fever got a bit better, but he still felt pretty awful. It would have been nice to lay on the couch and watch TV if he hadn't been feeling so sick. Occasionally, his friends in the group for his science project would text him and ask if he could put a poster together. Bill had to tell them no, but he got more and more worried about their grade. Maybe he could redo it since he'd been too sick to help much.

Bill got better with a few days left before their project was due. They all met at Crystal's house to go over what they had. The kid Bill didn't know as well, Tina, showed up with a great poster. Bill was flabbergasted.

"We used the research you sent us," Tina said. "I made the poster and Crystal and Louis wrote the presentation."

"You did?" Bill asked, turning to them.

"Yeah," Crystal replied. "It wasn't that hard."

Relieved, Bill suggested they go over their presentation a couple of times.

The day came to present in class, and Bill answered everyone's questions very well, since he'd had the disease they were presenting on. Personally, he thought they had the best presentation and poster. He just hoped that he could partner with Tina in the future. It was nice to work with someone who wasn't so lazy.

The Lazy Townspeople

Now imagine this in the middle of town. You'd move it, right?

Greetings, reader! We're still celebrating Black History Month, so we have another story from Africa. This time we don't have a specific country of origin, but I can tell you it's from Western Africa. The Lazy Townspeople speaks to me, but I identify too much with the lazy folks. Although, I'm sure we've all been there. Click the link to read the story, and then continue below to over-analyze it with me.

I have to admit, when I first saw the title for this, I was kind of hoping the townspeople would be rewarded for being lazy. I shouldn't have thought that, since fairy tales try to teach good lessons, but I hoped. I feel bad for the chief. He wanted his town to look nice and well-kept, but if the people who live there won't do anything, then it's going to look terrible. I like the way he taught them all a lesson about cleaning up, though. He didn't punish anyone, he just rewarded the one person who tried to clean up. However, I have to wonder if after that, more trees were mysteriously knocked over and then people dug under where they fell to try to find gold. After all, if it worked once, why not again? They didn't know the chief planted that gold there.

Let's look at that tree in the road a little more closely. I'm assuming the traders were carrying their merchandise on their backs. I can imagine a person moving around a tree in the road, but not a carriage. However, what would have happened if a carriage had needed to get through? Possibly part of the reason these townspeople were so lazy was because they didn't see the consequences of their actions as all that bad. Their gardens may have had weeds, but they probably had some good plants as well. It can be too easy to get caught up in the trap of not doing much because it doesn't seem all that important to keep up with things. However, being lazy like that can actually be more work. It's much easier to walk down a clear street than to pick your way around a fallen tree. It's just that moving the tree takes more effort at one time. I'm sure we've all had something similar happen to us. Solving the problem would make our lives easier in the long run, but it's so much effort up front that, for awhile at least, we find it easier just to ignore it.

I suppose what I'm saying is that we are all the lazy townspeople, although hopefully not too often. However, on those times when we're the young farmer and we get things done, we make our lives easier and sometimes get rewarded for it. Instead of spending so much time and energy to work around the problem, he just solves the problem and makes a lot of money doing it. Who doesn't want that? So, the moral of this story is: get things done, even if they're hard, because you'll be rewarded. Alternatively, for the cynics out there, if there's a problem, make sure someone powerful cares about it before you solve it so they'll reward you.

Have a different moral? Annoyed I didn't analyze the tree as representing all of life's problems that we have to start solving ourselves but can get help in solving? Have a story you want me to look at? Comment below!

The Cost of a Good Meal

Hello, reader. Happy Valentine's day!

Last week, we looked at The Considerate Hunter from Ghana. This week, we've got my modern intrepertation of it. Because of income tax and such, you can't just have animals give you money, so I had to take this in a new direction.

Would you get in a fight over this?

Gus' flight had ended up getting cancelled. He was booked on the next flight, but that wasn't until late this evening. Which gave him enough time to head downtown and get some dinner. Gus called a car and headed out of the airport, trying not to be annoyed this business trip was taking even longer.

After getting the driver's opinion, Gus ended up at a nice burger joint. He looked around and saw two other guys eating alone as well. On the spur of the moment, Gus decided to do something nice for them. Next time he saw the waitress, Gus asked if he could pay for the other men's meals too. It took a bit more convincing than it usually did, but the waitress agreed.

She brought over all the checks and Gus tipped generously and signed them all. He made sure to only take his receipt so he wouldn't get confused about which meal to get reimbursed for.

As he headed out of the restaurant, Gus noticed the waitress pointing him out to one of the men whose meal he'd paid for. Gus smiled and headed to the street. He had a bit more time, but he might as well head back to the airport to wait for his flight. He shifted his briefcase on his shoulder and started looking for a cab. He felt something knock into him. Gus turned around and saw it was the man the waitress had been talking to.

"You think I can't pay for my own meal?" the man demanded.

"Of course not," Gus replied, mystified. "I thought I'd just do something nice."

"Something nice? I was trying to do something nice and take this girl on a date. She stood me up!" The man cursed and glared at Gus.

"I'm sorry, " Gus said.

The man threw a punch and Gus barely ducked out of the way.

"What are you doing?" Gus yelled.

The man didn't reply. He just stepped forward and drew his fist back again. However, another man grabbed his arm and stopped him. Gus' attacker turned to see who was messing with him.

This new man was tall and heavy set. He looked pretty intimidating.

"Let go!" Gus' attacker demanded.

"Why are you fighting this guy?" the newcomer asked, not letting go.

"He insulted me!"

"I paid for his dinner," Gus answered.

The newcomer raised an eyebrow and looked at Gus' attacker. The attacker glared back.

"So you assaulted him," the newcomer said after a moment. He looked up at Gus. "Go ahead and call the police. I'll hold him for you."

"Police? I didn't do anything!" Gus' attacker protested.

"Then I think attempted assault will do nicely as a charge." The newcomer looked at Gus again. "I can represent you in court, if you like. Not that you really need a lawyer. This is an open and shut case."

"I'm not here for this," Gus' attacker muttered. He twisted out of the newcomer's grip and rushed off.

The newcomer laughed. "Figures. Are you all right?"

"Yes. He didn't actually hit me."

"That's good. Someone paid for my dinner as well. I assume that was you?"

Gus nodded.

"Well, I would like to thank you." The newcomer pulled out a business card and handed it to Gus.

"You really are a lawyer," Gus said, reading the card. The man's name was Matthew White.

Matthew laughed. "Yes and one of the best, although I specialize in corporate law, not criminal."

Gus smiled and pulled out his business card. "It just so happens I'm here scouting the location for another office. If we have any need for a lawyer here, I'll give you a call."

Matthew smiled. "Then I suppose this was a good meeting after all. I have somewhere I need to get to, but it was good to meet you, Gus."

"You too, Matthew."

Matthew turned and walked away and Gus got a cab back to the airport. As it turned out, Gus' company did open another office there and when they needed the best lawyer in the city, Gus was able to pull out Matthew's business card and get him. It hardly needs to be said that they won the case.

The Considerate Hunter

Is he coming to eat you, or give you a gift?

Greetings, reader! In honor of Black History month, I'm pulling this month's stories from Africa. This week, we're looking at The Considerate Hunter from Ghana. Check it out in the link and read below to analyze it with me.

Who made a pit big enough for all of those animals to fit inside? Sorry, I'm missing the point. How did all of them agree not to harm each other before one of them got harmed? Seriously, I would assume that lion would be hungry or the human would be scared and attack one of them. It's kind of amazing. I guess the most amazing part is that the human abided by this idea, since he had the least honor out of all of them.

Seriously, I know I overanalyze stories all the time on this blog, but it's such a big deal that the only one who didn't honor their debt to the hunter, and actively worked to hurt him, was the human. All of the wild animals repaid their debt and more. The amount of meat the lion brought him sounds staggering. How did that rat even find a bag of gold? I'm also impressed the snake had medicine on him somehow and that it was the antidote to his bite. Seriously, very impressive all around. Except for the human who decided to lie about the hunter's success. Jerk move.

I'm tempted to say that the ungrateful human proves that humans don't have as much honor as wild animals, except the hunter saved them so he clearly has honor. Similarly, the chief seems like a jerk, but he was tricked. Once he said he would spare the hunter's life for saving his daughter, the chief stuck to that.

So, the moral of this story is that people can be jerks, but if you save an animal, they will repay their debt to you. Alternatively, try to come up with a plausible lie about your sudden wealth if it comes from supernatural means.

Have a different moral? Wondering what literary significance each animal's gift has? Have a story you want me to cover? Comment below!