Article December 2, 1996 Issue

The Life that is fair

Channing Walker

When kids are very young, a parent can fix most of the unfair things they face. The toy astronaut has his head bitten off by the cat. This is not fair. But then he gets his head glued back on and everything is OK. The youngest brother dribbles and shoots, dribbles and shoots, and never makes a basket. This, too, is unfair. Then he sits on Dad's shoulders and drops the ball through the hoop.

But when kids get a few years older, unfair things come along that a parent can't always fix. Other kids at school are mean. Someone cheats on a test, gets away with it, and even wins Student-of-the-Week. Then before long a world opens where these small-time injustices pale, where really bad things happen to kids and to adults who didn't do anything bad at all.

If patterns hold true, an inner battle soon arises that pits youthful idealism against cynicism, and the final outcome gets labeled realism. Fairness and unfairness, kindness and indifference, stand side by side. But is that "realistic" view of life actually the real view? Does acceptance of it equal an understanding of life?

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