With the three-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq occurring four days ago, I thought it would be fitting to tell you a fairy tale a wise man once told me.
Long, long ago in the land of the free, the home of the brave, there was a man named George W. The Second. People called him Dubs. Dubs was a regular guy. Perhaps not the brightest, but he meant well and had a good heart.
For years, Dubs had a crush on an older Middle-Eastern woman named Irackna. They bumped into each other a few times and it turns out Dubs' father had a fling with her 15 years ago. Well, Dubs and Irackna got together and dated each other for years. One day Dubs and Irackna got the bright idea to have unprotected sex. Whether it was a biological urge, everybody was doing it or he wanted to take the relationship to the next level, Dubs had unprotected sex without thinking of the ramifications.
Though it felt great at the time, Dubs would soon regret his ill-thought actions. A week or two rolled by and Irackna told Dubs that she missed her period.
D'oh! Yeah that's right, George W. accidentally knocked up Iraq—I mean Irackna. Three years passed by, and Dubs was overwhelmed with all of the responsibility he didn't anticipate.
A group of guys he knew who called themselves The Leftys\ told Dubs, ""Dude, get a clue, man! How much time and money are you going to invest in this screw up of yours? Why don't you just break things off with Iraq, err…Irackna and let her take care of the problem?"" said The Leftys.
""You've done as much as you could, and maybe it's just best to leave Irackna alone. She can get help from the The Unwanted Newborns group (The U.N.), they said.
""But what about Irackna?"" Dubs asked. ""Would it be fair to leave Irackna in her current state of disarray? She didn't want a three-year ongoing hardship either.""
Now, Dubs may have been born with fewer brain cells than the average guy. And he may have made a horrible and miscalculated error that would affect him and Irackna for countless years to come. But what Dubs is not, is a quitter.
Sure, he probably made the wrong decision in the past, but if you run from your mistakes and don't take responsibility, can you ever proudly hold your head up in public?
Imagine what all of Irackna's friends, or their whole town (Earth) for that matter, would think if he just left Irackna to fend for herself after he caused this whole big mess.
Nobody would trust Dubs, his friends or his family. The town would think Dubs' group were a bunch of irresponsible pricks and aren't men enough to stick around and finish what they started.
I was eager to hear the ending when the wise man said, ""Young man, this story has no ending yet. The story is designed to provoke thought and to teach you to realize there are different ideas, thoughts and angles to every situation in life. Your opinions in life may be right or wrong, but the ability to fairly listen, understand and judge the situations life creates will get you far.""
Do you listen, understand and judge fairly? Let Jon know at jwsteffen@wisc.edu.\
