Pete's Blog

No effort whatsoever was made to ensure historical reliability of this story. The societal conditions in this story are purely there for the sake of advancing the moral of the story, not for advocating a certain societal hierarchy or suppression of opportunities for some.

Wade Crawford was a boy who was picked on for many of his early school years. His father was severely injured in a farming accident when he was young. It was difficult for his mother to find work, as women didn't have many opportunities back in those days. But the community knew what had happened to Mr. Crawford and compassionately gave her a position at the school. (It was very fortunate that Mrs. Crawford came from a wealthy background so she had the rare chance of being well educated and a woman, so she was actually qualified to teach.)

This didn't make it easy on Wade. It was bad enough that he was teased regularly for his father not working, but he was also teased for being the teacher's son. He hated it. He would go home crying from school, so his father would ask what was going on, but would be of little help. So when Mrs. Crawford would arrive home later from school, Mr. Crawford would tell her that Wade was upset, and she would go see him.

She would try to console him, saying, "You don't deserve this; it's not your fault."

Sometimes Wade would retort, "Mom, how can everyone be so mean to me? I don't understand why there isn't anyone who helps me."

"They're not all against you. They're scared of becoming the new targets. So they go along with the crowd. I'm sure that most of them would be good kids if you got to know them apart from the group as a whole."

"I wish someone were mean to them so they could know how it feels."

"Wade, you have such a good heart. I know you don't mean that. When you see someone hurting, though, remember how you feel now and try to help him. Someday you can be a hero if you help someone else. Don't be like those followers who stand with a crowd doing the wrong thing."

"Not now, Mom," he said in protest to her soothe-and-teach combination.

"Wade," she replied sternly. "I know you're hurting, but it's really important to remember that everything happens for a reason. So use this tough time to learn to stand up to bullies."

"I know, Mom. I will. Could we stop talking about this now?"

Wade really did take the lesson to heart, though. He would come to the realization that people broke into two categories, the bullies and the bullied. He wanted to stand for the bullies bullied (Updated).

With his father out of the picture for working on the farm, that put him and his three brothers on the front lines of doing what they could. So it was natural that they were always the strongest boys for their respective ages. And with his mother teaching, Wade had also developed a strong mind. He decided to practice law. He became very competent at his profession.

One day along his career, Frank, the owner and sole employee of an apple orchard came to him asking for his help. Frank (short for François), explained that he and Mrs. Kurt, a lady who had a stand in the local market selling pies, had reached a disagreement. His friends seemed to be doing very well, one had bought a new horse, another had taken his wife on a long voyage to visit England, and another had just acquired a field where he was planning on planting a vineyard. Seeing his friends' advancements, he thought that it might be time to raise the prices on his apples. Mrs. Kurt, who was his main customer, said that if he raised his prices, she would go to another orchard, since he wasn't the only one in the business.

Frank and Wade were friends so the former knew the latter's background, thus he appealed to Wade's sentiment, "We'd been in business this long, and this is how she reacts when I act on behalf of my business? It unfair. She's treating me like I'm disposable and insignificant. If I lose her, how will I provide for my family?" Strangely, Wade was persuaded by this. He saw Mrs. Kurt as the bully, and Frank and as the bullied.

He went to Mrs. Kurt and, using all the gimmicks he'd learned in his profession to be persuasive, he informed her that breaking business with Frank would result in significant legal repercussions. To add to the deception Frank had over Wade, Mrs. Kurt believed Wade. And she sought out the apples that Frank was selling, indeed, at the higher price, for fear of the punishment of not so doing.

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I'm a poor writer so I suspect many of the details of the story don't seem plausible. For example, how could Wade be manipulated so easily, and how could Mrs. Kurt be so easily duped? And isn't it typical in stories for the person who's picked on in the beginning to be the protagonist in the end? I'm not deluded to think that the contents of this fiction are believable. But the essence of it is happening in our contemporary society with a twist.

The market price for manual labour is below what the workers' unions deem reasonable. So, with the protection of the provincial government, they threaten their employers. For example, if workers go on strike, an employer is not allowed to dismiss those workers and hire new ones. Imagine Frank had said that he wouldn't sell Mrs. Kurt any apples until she paid a higher price per pound of apples, and she wasn't allowed to go to any of the other orchards because of the sway of Wade Crawford. That's so unfair. It is likewise with unions getting the government to take their side against their employers and management. It's an unfair fight when it's the government plus the union versus the employer. In the end, the customer loses because prices go up, adjusting for the union's demands.