Bill Clinton was addressing a group of school children and explaining to them the importance of choosing the right words to convey your thoughts. He asked someone to give an example of a "tragedy".
One boy raised his hand and said, "Well, if two children were playing ball and the ball went into the street and one child ran to get it and a car came by and hit him and killed him! That would be a tragedy."
Clinton thought a moment and replied, "Well son, that would be more like an accident instead of a tragedy. Does any one else have an idea?"
A little girl raised her hand and said, "What if a school bus full of children was going down the road and the bus rolled down a big hill and all the children on the bus were killed. That would be a tragedy."
Clinton thought about that for a moment and said, "Well little girl, that would be more like a great loss as opposed to a tragedy. Does anyone else have an idea?"
A little boy in the back of the room after taking all this information in raised his hand and said, "I think I know what a tragedy would be!"
And Clinton said, "Well, go ahead."
The little boy replied, "I think it would be if you and Hillary were on Air Force One and the plane was shot by a surface to air missile and blew up and crashed and you and Hillary were killed. That would be a tragedy."
"Very good," said Clinton, "That would be a tragedy, how did you come to that?"
"Well" the boy said, "I figured it wouldn't be an accident, and it wouldn't be a great loss. So it must be a tragedy!" |
