Fools and fanatics

A normal Saturday morning at a government service centre. Was waiting for my turn to be served, I was lured to a particular direction where a continuous stream of quacking sound was coming from.

It was from a pair of shoes. A kid was entertaining himself by running around the centre just so the “melody” can be heard. His mother was being served at a counter. There were a few faces of disgust amongst the crowd and there were also others who seemed oblivious to it, probably occupied by other things. After what seemed to be eternity, the mother finally got up and left the counter. To the disappointment of some hopefuls that the kid will soon be gone, bringing his noisy shoes somewhere else to continue the thrill, the mother, seeing the enjoyment of her boy, joined in by letting him continue his merry-making behavior!

Then a saviour appeared. He brought the kid over to his mum and politely asked that the fun be continued somewhere else. To the shock of him and others that were watching, the mother “fought back” in defence. “Don’t you run around when you were a boy? Nobody else is saying anything except you. Even the management does not think running is not allowed here because there’s no sign. You should get the management to put up a sign and I will stop my son from running”

I just thought :

“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.”Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)