The 4th grader likes milk. He likes chocolate milk even more. But a person gets tired of the same thing all the time. He has had strawberry flavored milk a few times and it appeals to him. So, he wonders why he can't ever get in the school lunch room. One thing leads to another and he applies the newly acquired idea of a petition to the problem of getting some strawberry milk sold at school.
I am impressed by the knowledge, the energy, the effort, the daring. I asked him how many signatures he has collected. He isn't sure. He has several pages and so do a girl and a boy who are working on this political cause with him. The most important of the pages includes the actual signature of the school principal. That ought to carry some weight!
When I proudly tell some of my own friends about this project, they are supportive and wish him luck. We realize that there may be many obstacles in the way of fulfilment. Maybe the present situation includes a contract with a vendor who doesn't deal in strawberry milk. There may be some administrative practice or policy that will interfere with making that pink moo-juice available. The drink may not turn out to be popular enough to sustain sales. Our budding politician may himself become uninterested and start petitions for espresso or to stop the sale of strawberry milk.
James Prochaska and colleagues has found that one of the best predictors of who will succeed in stopping smoking cigarettes is whether the smoker has tried to stop before. They found that successful quitters often have to try several times before they succeed. So, I am betting that this venture into politics, persuasion and planning will not be the last time this guy engages in an endeavor to change things. Life is funny, not funny ha-ha, but odd and twisting in its course. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if strawberry milk does show up in that school lunch room sometime, even if it is several years after this petitioner has moved on to higher grades and schools. Don't you be surprised if you are still around when this guy turns forty, if he is your city councilman or senator
--
Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
