Friday, October 14, 2011

The Girl, Political Philosopher

Earlier this week, The Girl and I did a grocery run. The following exchange occurred in the ice cream aisle.

TG (sighing): It must be nice to be in charge.

DD: What?

TG: It must be nice to be in charge! You get to decide what everyone will do!

DD: Well, sometimes it can be nice. But sometimes it’s not.

TG: Why not?

DD: Because sometimes you have to make a decision that people don’t like, and then they get mad at you.

TG: Just let them vote on it!

DD (suppressing a laugh): That’s not always an option.

TG: Why not?

(pause)

DD: What would happen if your teacher asked the class to vote on whether to do math or to have recess?

TG: We’d vote for recess!

DD: Probably. But then how would you learn math?

(pause)

TG: It must be nice to already know math.