This week’s topic for Writer’s Quotes Wednesdays is fairness, equal, eqitable, just or the counter point “Unfair!”
Merriam Webster defines fairness three ways: impartial and just treatment or behavior without favoritism or discrimination, having light-colored hair or a pale complexion, and beauty.
To participate in Writer’s Quotes Wednesdays, feel free to use any of the definitions. Don’t forget the quote!
My brother and I used to argue that our portions of food were not fair if one of us got an extra French fry or a bigger serving of cake. Fair meant equal at our house.
Only humans can choose to be fair. The wild animal world is ruled by survival of the fittest. And Tina Schell had a quote in her Lens-Artist post this week that illustrated that point well.
“It’s a cruel and random world, but the chaos is all so beautiful.”
Hiromu Arakawa
I have taught my dog to wait and not be grabby when she and the cat get treats together. Does she understand the concept of fairness I am teaching her? I’m not sure, but she doesn’t grab the treat, which is much smaller than hers until the cat walks away and/or I say, “Okay.”
Would she do that on her own?
Equity v Equality Which is Fair?
In the teaching setting it took some unlearning for me to learn equity and equality were not the same. Life is not fair. We don’t all start out with the same opportunities. Humans have the ability to learn that some people need more because they have less and that by giving more to those people we act fairly, though not equally.
“Fairness is man’s ability to rise above his prejudices.”
Wes Fessler
When I worked for Migrant Education we had programs for only the migrant students because they moved often and did not have the same educational advantages as students who were stable and had the opportunity to attend the same school every day.
One summer as a Migrant Education supervisor I visited migrant students in their homes with our recruiters. The migrant camp was poorer that most of the poorest I’d seen. One 60 foot by 12 foot trailer was divided into five equal sections and housed 4 families and had one bathroom for all the families. In the first one was one bed for a family of five or six, and no other furniture. We sat on the edge of the bed and the mother and children sat on the floor. The mother wasn’t allowed to eat in the camp because she was disabled and couldn’t work. So they had a two burner cook top stove someone had given them that sat on the floor off to one side. Books were a rarity, and we handed out a book per child that day. The mother was so grateful they gave each of us oranges. It was hard to accept them, but it was important to the mother that we did.
Some district administrators fought with Migrant Education, a federally funded program, for not being fair and not giving the Migrant benefits equally to all the students in the district. It was hard for them to explain to children and parents who were not classified as migrant that migrant students did not have the same advantages even thought they might also be poor. Migrant students did not attend the same school all year and often missed studying the same subjects as they bounced from school to school. They did not have equal opportunities. Migrant Education attempted to level the playing field to make things fair for migrant students.
COVID-19 Restrictions for All
One thing we all share fairly is COVID 19 restrictions. Never in my lifetime has anything been so widespread and pervasive for so long. Is it going to even the playing field? What are your thoughts?
Some of my blogging friends have taken the bull by the horns to keep from feeling defeated and powerless by the pandemic.
“One of the challenges my friends have been having recently is what I call “hitting the wall” but other labels are boredom and COVID Fatigue. I recently listened to a documentary on the radio about Boredom, and one of my key take-aways was the lack of agency we all have during quarantine. That is… we lack the ability to make things happen. Some people have been able to find a niche that gives them some feeling of agency or accomplishment: blogging, writing, art, weaving, home repairs, decorating, walking, virtual travelling: the Conqueror Challenge, reading, book clubs, language learning, on-line yoga, e-cycling, grandparenting, online courses, cooking, photography, kayaking, zooming and #Sundaystills.”
Ann of https://theunretired.life/2021/02/21/birdwatching-in-covid-19/
Check Out Last Week’s #WQWWC #12 Responsibility Entries
Question???
Hi friends, As you can see the participant rate for this challenge, Writer’s Quotes Wednesdays Writing Challenge, is low. It seems that this challenge is not working for you. Are the prompts or topics okay? Is using quotes difficult or boring? I was going to give it a year, but if it is not working for you, then it doesn’t work for me either. Talk to me.
Marsha Ingrao - Always Write 
Your babbling is music to my ears. Please leave a comment!