Bill Clinton is visiting a school. In one
class, he asks the students if anyone can give him an example of a
“tragedy”.
One little boy stands up and offers “If my best
friend who lives next
door was playing in the street when a car came
along and killed him,
that would be a tragedy.”
“No,” Clinton
says, “That would be an ACCIDENT.”
A girl raises her
hand. “If a school bus carrying fifty children drove
off a cliff,
killing everyone involved… that would be a tragedy.”
“I’m afraid
not,” explains Clinton. “That is what we would call a
GREAT
LOSS.”
The room is silent; none of the other children volunteer.
“What?” asks Clinton, “Isn’t there any one here who
can give me an
example of a tragedy?”
Finally, a boy
in the back raises his hand. In a timid voice, he says:
“If an
airplane carrying Bill & Hillary Clinton were blown up by a
bomb, T
HAT would be tragedy.”
“Wonderful!” Clinton beams. “Marvelous!
And can you tell me WHY that
would be a tragedy?”
“Well,”
says the boy, “because it couldn’t be an accident, and it
certainly
would be no great loss!”