The chickens were alarmed. Every Sunday, a couple hours before lunch, a chicken would go missing, never to be seen again. Nobody knew why or what happened to them. Was there something in common in those disappearances? No one could say.
After intense debate and much speculation, the flock decided to approach the farmer with their concern.
“Do you know what’s going on?” -- they asked Old MacDonald.
Old Mac told them there was nothing to worry about. “Those lucky chickens”, he said, his hand stroking his belly, “are in a much better place”. Then, he added: “To avoid the suspicion of favoritism, from now on you’ll draw straws. The one drawing the short straw will come with me.”
After Old Mac left with Chicken Jen (who drew the short straw and like the others was never seen again), the remaining chickens debated and debated. What did he mean? To draw the short straw and go missing, well, was it something good or bad? Theories abounded. Soon enough what started as a debate grew into a storm of clucking and peeping, feathers and dust. “To draw long straws is better!” -- some chickens, more cynical, proclaimed loudly.
“Shut up, ya silly chooks!” -- Chicken Steve crowed mightily, making a Very Serious face. Silence immediately fell on the backyard.
“To draw long straws cannot be a good thing! -- he explained in magisterial tone, his piercing gaze challenging anyone to contradict his unassailable reasoning. “If it were good, all chickens would want to draw long straws. But that -- as we all know -- is impossible: there’s always one short straw. Therefore, to draw long straws cannot be a good thing”.
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Next time we’ll explain why to win the 2018 FIFA World Cup cannot be a good thing.
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Make of that parable what you will. :-)
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Disclaimer: Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual chickens, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
No argumentative fowl -- foul or fair -- was harmed during the writing of this fictional post.
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