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Spitting
Nails by Judy Campbell |
 Tony
was about as mad as Raychel had ever seen him. Her mom would have said
he was so mad he was "spitting nails." Raychel was angry too. And there
didn't seem to be anything they could do."It's not fair," growled Tony. "And no one is doing anything about it," Raychel added. "You'd think somebody would try to help," stormed Tony, "but all they say is, 'Rules are rules' and 'Sometimes life just isn't fair.' Joey feels really bad, but he's too embarrassed to ask for help." "Who doesn't want to ask for help?" asked Tony's dad, who had just come in from work. "My friend Joey can't go on the school camping trip because his dad got laid off and now he doesn't have enough money to pay for it," said Tony. "The trip won't be any fun without him and the teachers say there's nothing we can do. Joey has had to give all his paper route money to his mom for groceries and he'd been saving all year to go on this trip. It stinks" "I have an idea," offered Tony's dad, "I'll bet your mom and I, and Raychel's parents could come up with the money, and no one would ever know." "We thought of that," said Tony, "but even if Joey would let us do that, it won't fix what's really wrong." "I don't understand," said his dad. "What's really wrong is that the school has a stupid rule: kids have to earn all the money for the trip themselves. You know, like Raychel did with the dog walking, and I did by painting T-shirts? Well, Joey earned the money all right, but then he had to give it to his family." Tony was so mad that his face was red and his eyes were watering. "If a rule is a bad rule, or is unfair to some people, then you should work to change it," said Tony's dad calmly. "What do you mean?" asked Tony hopefully. "Well...for example, for many years in this country, women and black people were not allowed to vote or own property." "That's not fair!" yelled Raychel. "Exactly," nodded Tony's dad. "It wasn't fair, and it took a lot of people a long time to get the rule changed. They worked hard though, and they finally did it. So now people who look like you, Raychel, and you, Tony, can vote for who will be president, and can own their own houses."
"OK," said his dad, "So let's talk about this bad rule some more. What do you think is unfair?" "I think that making kids earn their own money is okay," started Tony. "Everyone knows about the trip for two years, so they have time to earn the money. But what if you just moved here, or you get sick or your dad loses his job and you can't save any money? Then I think the rule should change." "But where would the money come from?" asked Tony's dad. "The school doesn't have extra money for this trip." Tony looked out the window and the first smile he showed all day came on his face. "What if all the kids made a little more money than they needed for the trip, and the extra was put away, for someone who needed it? And if no one needed the extra money, it could be saved for another year," Tony added excitedly. "You mean a scholarship, or campership," said Tony's dad. "Everybody helps a little bit, and anybody who wants to go on the trip gets to go. You, my boy, get the "Good Idea" award of the day!" "Ok, so it's a good idea, but how do we make it happen?" asked Raychel. "Well, in our church, when we want to change something, a group of people get together and write down the idea on a piece of paper and sign it. If we get enough people from our church and others to sign our petition we take it to the annual meeting of all UU churches, called General Assembly, and everyone there votes on it. If the vote passes, we go back to our churches and work to make the change happen."
"Daaaaad," moaned Tony, "this is school, not church!" "Okay, okay," said his dad, "but the idea is the same. You and Raychel could get a group of kids together and write the new rule. Make copies and show the new rule to other kids and ask them to sign it. Once you have all the signatures, you can take it to the teachers and see if they'll agree to change the rule." "I think every one would sign it," said Raychel with a big smile. "Maybe," agreed Tony's dad, "but would every kid give some money too?" "Well," said Raychel the mathematician, "each kid is supposed to earn $50. And 20 kids are going on the trip. So, if everyone added just $3, we'd have $60-enough for one person's trip and a little left over for next year." "Sounds like a plan," said Tony's dad. "You'll have to ask your teachers to help you figure out how to save the money from year to year, and how to give it out when it's needed." "Tony," said Raychel the organizer, "you start writing, I'll start calling the kids. The trip isn't for two months, but we have to hurry if we want to change that rule." "What about Joey's embarrassed feelings?" said Tony's dad. "Do you think you should talk to him before you start anything?" "Yeah, you're right," said Tony. "But I think if Joey knows this will help other kids, not just him, he'll be all for it. I'll call him right now." "I'm really proud of you," said his dad. Tony paused for a moment. He loved hearing his dad say those words. "Thanks Dad. If this works, I'll be proud of me too!" |
