To those who doubt the awesome power of democracy to fully express the will of the people, let me tell you the story of my Maths lesson today.
Having forewarned us that we would be called upon to present various answers to proof questions to the rest of the class, our Maths teacher reached the last one – the ominous question 13. Sure, we had all read the answers at the back of the book, but still, for the purposes of telling an exciting story, it was the ominous question 13. Scanning along the rows of purposely non-chalant faces she picks her victim student… Robert and I crossing our fingers and quietly chanting “Fabio.. Fabio.. please…Fabio”.
She did not pick Fabio. Oh, the audible sigh of disappointment. “Aw, can’t we have a vote instead?” I joked. Well at least I thought I joked, but what I am increasingly realising is that my jokes often are interpreted as serious suggestions (that’s the reason why we’re now buying a mini-fridge for our Physics classroom).
“OK then, we’ll have a vote”
“Woaah?”
“Who do you all want?”
Feeling a duty to uphold the sacred principles of democracy, I pressed on for a secret ballot, dutifully accepted. It was probably not in keeping with the sacred principles of democracy that I would then be asked to hand out the paper slips myself, giving me time for a last minute pitch for my chosen candidate, but then, no democracy’s perfect.
Anyway, Fabio romped home with a thumping majority and ended up presenting the ominous question 13 admirably well. So three cheers for democracy, where the will of the people wins out over tyranny. Huzzah!
Ha, Fabio seems to be the subject of the all the abuse from you guys. Like Mo-Man is up here
He has his own office now, too. He’s getting a phone put in, don’t you know….