Monday, January 22, 2007

A Father and Daughter

Great, instructive, little story...

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like many others her age, she considered herself a liberal Democrat, very much in favor of the redistribution of wealth. She was deeply ashamed that her father was a staunch Republican.

One day she challenged her father on both his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the addition of more welfare programs. The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father.

He responded by asking her how she was doing in school. Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load, constantly studying and had little time to go out and party like other people she knew.

Her father listened and then asked, "How is your friend Audrey doing?"

She replied, "Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus, college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties, and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes."

Her wise father asked his daughter, "Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct 1.0 off your 4.0 GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA."

The daughter, visibly shocked, angrily fired back, "That wouldn't be fair! I have worked really hard for my grades. I've invested a lot of time and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!"

The father slowly smiled, winked and said gently, "Welcome to the Republican Party."