Part 7 (2/2)
”Hey, if I want something, why shouldn't I have it?”
”Because maybe it belongs to me, that's why!” She told Mr. Easley, ”Somebody stole my Walkman and I don't appreciate it one bit.”
”Was it really yours?” Easley asked.
”Of course it was mine!”
”So you paid for it, or someone gave it to you?”
Now the girl shrank a bit. ”No. I found it.”
”Oh-hooo!” the group reacted. Gotcha.
Easley held up a hand. ”Well now, come on, let's not get into either/or here, as if either Charlene or Melinda is right. Maybe both Charlene and Melinda are right. Maybe the real problem is private possessions. Charlene believes that all the world is community property and everybody owns it, right?”
Charlene gave her gum a few thoughtful chomps, and then flipped some purple hair out of her eyes. ”Yeah. Sounds good.”
”But it looks like Melinda agrees with you-at least she did when she, uh, found the Walkman, didn't you, Melinda?”
Melinda got a little fl.u.s.tered and looked at the ground as she replied, ”I don't know. I just wanted it, that's all.”
”Nothing wrong with that,” said Ramon.
She turned on him. ”Yeah, so how would you like it if somebody ripped off your stuff?”
”Oooohh,” the group reacted, mocking her anger.
Easley tossed both girls a coin and then held up a hand to calm things down. ”Okay, now Melinda's asked Ramon the big question: How would I like it? Well, that's up to each of us, isn't it? If I'm being selfish with things, then sure, I'm going to get upset if someone else needs what I want to keep for myself. Melinda, did it ever occur to you that perhaps you're being too selfish with things? Do you think it's fair for you to have a Walkman when somebody else doesn't?”
”Yeah, Melinda,” piped up some others, ”what about that?”
”You could look at it this way: You're actually sharing; you just don't know it. I think that's the whole point here: If n.o.body owns anything, then how can anyone steal it?”
Melinda looked around the group, still angry and suspicious. ”Well if that's the way you want to say it, then whoever's sharing my Walkman, I'd like it if you'd share it back again.”
”All right,” said Mr. Easley. ”See? Both Melinda and Charlene are right.”
”Do I get another dollar?”
Easley tossed Melinda another ”dollar,” then applauded as the kids laughed and cheered.
Elijah chuckled and muttered to himself, ”Either/or.”
Easley heard him. ”What was that, Jerry?”
Elijah was on the spot. He could feel every eye on him. ”Oh, nothing. That was just an either/or, that's all.”
”What was?”
Elijah wasn't the kind to shrink from a direct question. ”Well, you're trying to tell us that both Melinda and Charlene are right, but that was never the case. All you did was argue with Melinda to get her to change her mind, so that means, either she saw stealing as sharing or she was selfish. It wasn't a both/and; it was an either/or.”
Now a few ”oh-hos” arose toward Mr. Easley, and Elijah even heard a fellow say, ”He's got you there.”
By now, Elisha's mental stew was about to boil over, so she jumped in. ”And I'm not even sure she's changed her mind.”
Melinda just looked at the coin in her hand and said, ”Yeah. I guess so,” although her eyes were still the resentful eyes of someone who'd been ripped off.
Elisha was on a roll. ”I don't think she should change her mind. Sure, it's good to share, and we shouldn't be selfish, but calling stealing sharing doesn't make it sharing, it's still stealing, and stealing is wrong, and if Melinda stole that Walkman, she was ripping somebody off, and whoever took her Walkman without her permission was ripping her off.”
There were some hoots and disagreements-”Hey, welcome to the real world,” ”Preach it!” But there were some firm agreements as well-”Hey, a ripoff's a ripoff,” ”I wouldn't want somebody stealing my stuff”-and even some applause.
Easley just smiled. ”Sally, you're new here, so it'll take some time for you to catch up. I think all of us have been raised with certain ideas of right and wrong, but now we can build our own world right here, and create a new truth.”
Elisha looked at him strangely. ”A new truth? Like what?”
He smiled, pleased at the thought. ”Whatever we agree on. You see, Right and Wrong are what we choose to make them.”
Elijah piped up-he couldn't help it. ”Is that statement you just made right or wrong?”
Easley didn't appear to appreciate the question. ”It depends on what the group thinks.” Easley looked around at the group. ”How about it? Do we agree?”
”Sure,” they replied. ”Yeah.” ”Whatever.” ”Sounds good.”
He tossed them some more coins.
”So now it's what the group thinks?” Elijah asked. ”What if the group decided you're wrong? Would you still be right?”
”Well, I can still have any truth I want in my own mind,” Easley admitted.
”So you can have it both ways at the same time.”
”Exactly! Both/and!”
Elijah looked at Elisha. ”Then stealing really is wrong!” Then he looked at Melinda. ”And you really were ripped off!”
The group began laughing, mostly at Easley's frustrated look.
”No, no, not really!” Easley argued. ”Not if the group doesn't think so!”
”No? Not really?” Elijah furrowed his brow, working up his answer. ”So either stealing is wrong and Melinda got ripped off, or the group is right and she's just sharing.”
Easley countered, ”Both Melinda and the group are right.”
”That's madness!” said Elisha. ”You can't have it both ways!”
”Sure you can. Both/and,” said Easley with a shrug and a smile.
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