In the true story of the tortoise and the hare, just like in Aesop's Fables, the hare challenges the tortoise to a race knowing full well that the tortoise cannot win, but he loses to the tortoise anyway. The fable would have you believe that the hare goofed off along the way and taunted Mr. Turtle as he poked along. What really happened is this: Mr. Rabbit had a well-deserved reputation for speed and for being a bit of a know-it-all. Mr. Turtle, on the other hand, enjoyed sunning himself on a rock while lavishing compliments on everyone who joined him in the sunshine. In this way, he ended up with many loyal friends who would do almost anything for him. When Mr. Rabbit had had enough of listening to Mr. Turtle as he held court while being waited on by his smitten groupies, he challenged the lazy and arrogant reptile to a race in order to set the record straight. The only problem was that the "Toadies", as Mr. Rabbit referred to Mr. Turtle's friends, weren't interested in watching their beloved Mr. Turtle suffer the humiliation of certain defeat; so they hatched a plan that would silence the annoying Mr. Rabbit forever.
On the day of the big race, Mr. Turtle slowly made his way from his sunny spot to the starting line where Mr. Rabbit had been waiting impatiently for quite some time. "On your mark, get set, go!" announced the referee. Mr. Rabbit tore off at great speed, looking back only briefly to make a rude gesture in Mr. Turtle's direction. Mr. Turtle then did something surprising, he took a look around, winked at his admirers and shut himself into his shell for a nap. A bit later, someone knocked on his shell and said, "OK T, it's time." The referee had been sent to get coffee and returned just as Mr. Turtle popped out of his shell, and acted like he had been moving forward all along, there was only one conclusion: Mr. Turtle had crossed the finish line (which was also the starting line) first, with Mr. Rabbit a close second.
Mr. Rabbit, making the classic error of Highly Ineffective People, had failed to consider that not everyone values honesty and hard work. Mr. Turtle, on the other hand, knew that he didn't have to move a muscle in order to win the contest for hearts and minds; all he had to do was keep telling his followers what they wanted to hear; nobody cared that Mr. Turtle cheated because everyone knew that Mr. Rabbit was the faster contestant. That fact was never in question.
To this day, Mr. Rabbit has no idea how he lost that race. He left the area and headed south in search of a better life, only to find that there are tortoises and toadies everywhere. If he could have grown a shell and shut himself inside, he would have done it. Instead, he discovered Happy Hour thereby consigning himself permanently to an lifetime of ineffectiveness.
Copyright 2013 by Teresa Friedlander, all rights reserved.
