An
annual Canoe Rowing Competition was organized between Africa and
Europe. The rules were simple; each team was to be made up of seven
people and the first team to the end of the river would be declared winner. The teams were to
decide among themselves the strategy they would deploy to win the
race. They were each provided with a stop watch, money for what ever
purpose they wanted and any number of oars they wanted.
The
European team appointed one person as the leader and the same person
as the time keeper. The leader bought a carton of energy drinks,
sandwiches and promised the team an amount of money each if they won
the race.
He
formed a team of four rowers and two backs ups who would relieve two
of the rowers a one third of the journey and the relieved workers
would take over from the last two when they were two thirds way
through the journey. At every time two rowed on the left and another
two on the right. The leader did nothing except keep time and once in
a while utter give a few motivational words.
The
African team elected a leader who in turn appointed an assistant, a
time keeper and a motivational speaker. The remaining three were to
be rowers. A box of cabin biscuits was the refreshment. The leader,
his assistant, the time keeper and the motivational speaker were not
to take part in the rowing.
The
race began and the fans cheered and waited expectantly. The European
team started a bit slowly but the leader kept motivating his team
till gradually they picked up speed.
The
African team started furiously and took a head start but soon
problems began to arise. Since there were two rowers on one side and
one on the other side, the rowing wasn't well balanced and the boat
kept moving in one direction. The leader and his assistant kept
berating the rowers and the motivational speaker kept using big words
the poor rowers couldn't understand. The weight of the four executive
members also added extra burden to the rowers. To make matters worse
the rowers got hungry and eating cabin biscuit made them thirsty.
The
European team arrived at the finish line a good three hours before
the African team arrived. The leader of the European team true to his
word gave the rest of the team some money as a reward for winning
though he kept a large portion for himself.
The
African team arrived later fighting among themselves. On arrival at
the finishing line the leader formed a fact finding committee made up
of himself, his assistant, the time keeper and the motivational
speaker. The committees' duty was to ascertain the cause of the loss.
Money was spent on refreshment and sitting allowance. The committee
came to the conclusion that:
- the rowers had been lazy
- some of the rowers had intentionally sabotaged they race
- the team should have had a navigator
It
was decided that the three rowers be fired. Three new people were
hired. One of them was to be a navigator and the other two were to be
rowers. The two rowers were to start immediate training in
preparation for next years race.
Disclaimer: This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters and incidents are either a product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Wednesday May 4, 2011
NB: Loosely based on a story i heard as a kid
Find Part 2 here "Boat Race 2: A Political Parable"
