Reference:

George Sranko: I believe in the power of a story for conveying a message... so here's a crude attempt at creating some imagery that may prove useful in our work. I'd appreciate any comments. Please feel free to circulate...


All In The Same Boat
by George Sranko

Imagine a life boat bobbing to and fro, on an endless sea, with no land in sight. Inside the boat we find the following assortment of people: In the mid-section sit a huddled a mass of children, women, and men; at least a dozen of them. Behind them, towards the stern, four strong men are pulling on the oars. In the bow, the captain of the ship, a somber character scanning the horizon ahead. His first mate sits beside him, carefully clutching the ship's compass. In the very stern, a well dressed man in his 50's sits with his hand on the tiller. At his feet, a small group of men and women are engaged in a curious exercise... they are gouging away at the sides of the lifeboat with whatever tool they have at their disposal. Now and then one of them manages to pry away an especially large splinter and proudly displays it to the other gougers and the man at the tiller. They all nod with murmurs of approval. The man at the tiller has a large keg of water at his feet, and offers some to those with the largest pieces pried from the boat. The boat is all they possess... they must still drink, however, so they willingly gouge slivers of wood and trade them for water. The four men rowing also receive a cup of water to share, so they can keep up their exertions. And the man at the tiller asks one of the gougers to carry a cup forward to the captain and first mate for their efforts in navigating and watching for land.

Those huddled in the middle survive by licking at the tiny dribbles that spill from the keg and "trickle-down" into the bilge every time a cup is filled.

The man at the tiller has a piece of clear plastic set up as a solar still to steadily replenish his drum of fresh water from sea water. He drinks freely whenever he feels thirsty.

Now, we hear some conversation:

Rower: "You can't go on tearing at the boat like that, you idiots! How long before you reach the waterline and we all sink!"

Gouger: "Don't be such an ass. Can't you see that we need to tear the wood because the man at the tiller won't give us anything to drink otherwise. There's at least ten days worth of wood in this boat and by then we'll easily reach land."

Rower: "But it's not your wood - this boat is the only thing we have and it belongs to all of us! There's absolutely no guarantee we're going to find land in ten days. Besides, the man at the tiller gives us rowers water. Why don't you do some rowing?"

Gouger: "I can earn a cup of water in less than an hour... you have to row all day to earn just a measly share of a cup."

Rower: "Yes... but don't you understand - you are destroying our boat - our only boat - the boat that all of our lives depend on!"

Huddled woman (croaking and barely able to speak): "Water, please pass some water - I'll take a turn rowing the boat, just give me a chance!"

Rower: "Ha-ha! Are you kidding... let you row! Don't you know how much muscle this takes? What do you think these oars are made of - macaroni? You wouldn't get in more than two strokes before you keeled over."

Huddled woman: "Then I'll gouge some wood too... but I don't have anything sharp. Please, we need more water..." Other huddlers join in, "More water! Give us water!"

Gouger: "Quit your griping! If you had worked hard enough and were smart enough you'd own something sharp of your own by now. You're lazy, that's all it boils down to. You're lucky we let any water trickle down your way... you're not doing anything but complaining, and we still give you water."

Rower: "Captain, have you spotted any land yet?"

Captain: "I see some clouds ahead... but I can't tell if there's any land. Believe me, I know we're headed in the right direction, though... Just keep rowing smooth and steady."

Huddled man: "Hey, who gave the man at the tiller control over the water anyway? Why isn't he sharing it equally?

Man at the tiller: "Very simple, my good sir. We must keep the water for the strongest members so they can row us to land. That's the only way we can ensure our survival. When we get to land I promise you can drink all the water you want."

Huddled man: "But we could all take turns rowing, if we had enough strength. We need more water. Besides, I don't see you doing any rowing!"

Gouger: "Didn't I tell you to quit your griping. You're lucky you get any water. Do something productive with your lives."

Huddled man: "Do you call what you're doing productive!? You're busy tearing apart our only hope - the boat that keeps us from drowning or becoming shark food!"

Gouger: "Don't exaggerate... there's more than enough boat here for all of us!"

Rower: "We demand that you stop gouging our boat...!"

Man at the tiller: "Now, now... no more squabbling. I'll make certain that the boat is gouged uniformly. The Captain is the authority here and I'm sure he wouldn't allow it to be done otherwise ... isn't that right, Captain?

Captain: "Yes, you can be assured that gouging will be carried out in a sustainable fashion and that everyone on this boat will be treated fairly and equally. That's a direct promise, my dear friends, from your Captain."

Huddlers: "Well, we want more water! Where's the equality?"

Captain: "As the gentleman at the tiller said earlier there's more than enough water for all... at the moment, however, we have to carefully ration it so those who are strong enough can continue to row. Once we reach land there will be fresh water up to your necks if you want!"

That night when it grew terribly cold, the man at the tiller took his bundle of slivers and shards of wood and built a small fire on a piece of tin to keep himself warm. He'd also made room close to the fire for the Captain and the First Mate. The gougers also managed to soak in a bit of the warmth from the fire. The rowers kept warm by continuing to row whenever the cold became too much. The huddlers had only each other to cling to, and their own body heat to try and keep the cold from penetrating to the bone.

10 days later they still hadn't reached land.

The waves were lapping over what was left of the gunwales.

The weakest huddlers had died from weakness, cold and dehydration.

Even the gougers were growing increasingly weak and less able to gouge wood for the Tiller Man's nightly fire.

Finally, one night, one of the rowers couldn't stand the cold any longer and pushed his way to the fire.

The Captain, suddenly afraid of being pushed aside by the stronger man, pulled a pistol that he had kept hidden in his coat pocket and shot the rower. Pointing his pistol at the rest of the rowers he demanded they continue to row while he sat down close to the fire. The Tiller Man, Captain and First Mate formed an uneasy alliance to keep the pistol pointed on the rowers. The gougers sat close to the alliance, with a new, antagonistic look in their eyes as they watched the rowers and huddlers.

A few days later one of the rowers suddenly swung his oar at the Tiller Man, who was holding the pistol. In the ensuing scramble, two rowers were shot, the Captain had his head smashed-in by an oar, the water barrel was overturned, and the sea began flooding over the splintered gunwales. By the end of that day only the Tiller Man, First Mate, two rowers and four gougers remained alive in the half submerged life boat.

Without any fresh water, they too died of thirst within a few days. No one survived.


To be continued...!

Part 2


*