Mandelscum & the School Visit

Did anyone tell you about the day when Lord Peter Mandelson was visiting a primary school in England, and was taken into the room of a class discussing words and their meanings. The teacher asked Lord Mandelson whether he would care to lead a discussion on the word "Tragedy", so he asked the class to give him an example.

A little boy stood up, and said, "If my best friend, who lives on a farm, was playing in the field, and a tractor ran over him, and killed him, that would be a tragedy".

"No," said Lord Mandelson, 'that wouldn't be a tragedy: that would be an accident".

A little girl raised her hand: "If the school bus had fifty boys and girls in it, and it drove over a cliff, killing everyone inside, that would be a tragedy".

"I'm afraid not," explained Lord Mandelson; "That is what we would call a great loss."

The room went silent. No child volunteered.

Lord Mandelson's eyes searched the room. "Can no one here give me an example of a tragedy?"

At the back of the room, a little hand went up, and a quiet voice said, "If a plane carrying you and Mr Brown was struck by friendly fire and blown to smithereens, that would be a tragedy".

"Magnificent!" exclaimed Lord Mandelson, "That's right! And can you tell me why that would be tragedy?"

"Well," said the quiet voice, "It has to be a tragedy, because it certainly wouldn't be a great loss, and it probably wouldn't be an accident."