The road cleaner
May. 5th, 2005 11:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sobriqueOnce upon a time, there was a good hearted chap, who noticed that the road outside his house was getting a little dirty. So he took out his broom, and started to sweep. He found it was actually rather fun, to work hard, but to have a nice clean bit of road to be proud of. So he started to broaden his efforts, to clean the road all the way along past his neighbours houses too. And for many a month, the road was nice and clean.
His neighbours would not often thank him, but every now and then, one of them would pop out and offer him coffee.
As time went by, his broom started to wear out in a big way. So by mutual agreement, he and his neigbours gathered some funds to buy a new broom, to be used for communual benefit. The good hearted chap agreed to look after the broom, and continued to sweep the road.
But after some months, a new neigbour moved in, with a big dirty car, that liked to strew oil all the way across the road. Cleaning the oil too, was harder, but the good hearted chap liked seeing his road clean, so just put that bit more effort in. Alas, too much effort was required, because rather than sweeping the road once a week, this oil monster of a car would make the road dirty daily. He persevered, struggling onwards, but gradually, the road sweeping stopped being a satisfing experience for him. And he stopped doing it so often.
But now, when the road was dirty, his neigbours looked at him, and wanted to know why their nice shiny road was so filthy. Why hadn't he kept it clean? After all, they'd even given him money for the broom that he used, to sweep the road.
The good hearted man was anguished. He had been sweeping the roads, because he liked having clean roads. He had a new broom, true, but it was getting worn in, and had replaced his previous broom that had been entirely used up in keeping roads clean. So he pushed on, and redoubled his efforts. A determination that nothing would keep his road dirty drove him. He spent many hours each day trying to keep up with keeping the road clean, but each time he looked at it, it had gotten dirty again.
He spoke to his neighbours about the problem, who demanded of him, "how could he let a dirty oilcar come and ruin their neighbourhood", and "why hadn't he dealt with it before". They were disastified with his efforts at keeping the road clean, and told him so. Many of his neigbours were openly hostile to him. Many were rude.
Trying to point out that he kept the road clean as a hobby, for the pleasure of keeping the road clean didn't work. After all, did they not have a right to a clean road, every day? Pointing out that he was just trying to sweep a road, not act as a 'oilcar pollution control officer' was unsuccessful. After all, he had taken responsibility for the clean road, and that clearly included stopping dirty cars from using it.
So one day, he just stopped.
And the road got dirty.
His neighbours would not often thank him, but every now and then, one of them would pop out and offer him coffee.
As time went by, his broom started to wear out in a big way. So by mutual agreement, he and his neigbours gathered some funds to buy a new broom, to be used for communual benefit. The good hearted chap agreed to look after the broom, and continued to sweep the road.
But after some months, a new neigbour moved in, with a big dirty car, that liked to strew oil all the way across the road. Cleaning the oil too, was harder, but the good hearted chap liked seeing his road clean, so just put that bit more effort in. Alas, too much effort was required, because rather than sweeping the road once a week, this oil monster of a car would make the road dirty daily. He persevered, struggling onwards, but gradually, the road sweeping stopped being a satisfing experience for him. And he stopped doing it so often.
But now, when the road was dirty, his neigbours looked at him, and wanted to know why their nice shiny road was so filthy. Why hadn't he kept it clean? After all, they'd even given him money for the broom that he used, to sweep the road.
The good hearted man was anguished. He had been sweeping the roads, because he liked having clean roads. He had a new broom, true, but it was getting worn in, and had replaced his previous broom that had been entirely used up in keeping roads clean. So he pushed on, and redoubled his efforts. A determination that nothing would keep his road dirty drove him. He spent many hours each day trying to keep up with keeping the road clean, but each time he looked at it, it had gotten dirty again.
He spoke to his neighbours about the problem, who demanded of him, "how could he let a dirty oilcar come and ruin their neighbourhood", and "why hadn't he dealt with it before". They were disastified with his efforts at keeping the road clean, and told him so. Many of his neigbours were openly hostile to him. Many were rude.
Trying to point out that he kept the road clean as a hobby, for the pleasure of keeping the road clean didn't work. After all, did they not have a right to a clean road, every day? Pointing out that he was just trying to sweep a road, not act as a 'oilcar pollution control officer' was unsuccessful. After all, he had taken responsibility for the clean road, and that clearly included stopping dirty cars from using it.
So one day, he just stopped.
And the road got dirty.
