There was once a boy called Mark who was always saying “it’s not fair”. When his elder sister got some treat that he did not he would declare “it’s not fair”. When his classmate was given a special task even when he was bad, Mark was quick to shout out loud “it’s not fair”. And when the classteacher Mr Potts let Sammy Spike have another go at the computer just because he’d had his leg in plaster, Mark was there just straight away to firmly say, “it’s not fair”. If only people were treated all the same and followed all the rules Mark thought. If only they were just like me. That would be the way to make the world a happy, fair and better place.
Then one night he had a strange and wonderful dream that took him to a magic robot land. In this land the world was inhabited by robots all built exactly the same. They went about their robot business with efficiency and regimentation, all complying with every rule and the regulation. It’s true the robots didn’t feel very happy but that was because they were robots and didn’t feel anything. Their world worked with marvellous efficiency because they were all treated exactly the same, no robot was treated differently from any other. It seemed a marvelous world of order and Mark was pleased.
But as Mark looked more closely he noticed that if any robot thought differently or held different beliefs it was considered faulty and was broken up for scrap. Similarly if any robot had a mechanical fault – it’s limbs would not work or its robot brain became faulty – it would likewise be thrown on the scrapheap. In robot land there was no account made for individual differences and needs, and as Mark looked on he soon began to find this world was a terrible, grey and barren land. There was no colour but just a depressing blandness everywhere he looked. He became sadder and sadder as he looked at the robots going about their business with no feelings or hope. He then realised that his dream, was turning into a nightmare.
He woke up in the morning in a cold sweat grateful to find himself back in the real world, the world of people and individuality. As he walked to school he noticed, it seemed for the first time all the colour in the world around him – the different trees all spread with leaves and the sky filled by bright white clouds. He stopped to stare at the people at the end of his streets. People everywhere going about their everyday business just as the robots had, but here each person was different. He saw the young mum with her baby in a pushchair, the old man with a crutch walking slowly and the workmen digging up the road. He saw the baker opening up his shop and the beggar with hand held out. He heard the ambulance siren as it rushed past with someone needing help.
During the school day he noticed all his classmates and how different each one was. How some were sad or angry and needed some extra care. How some were struggling with school work or problems at homeand needed extra time, and he realised how each and every one had very different needs. And so Mark, stopped saying “it’s not fair” because he realised that everyone was different, each one a unique individual and that meant that they couldn’t all be treated the same. And that was good, because people were not machines or robots.
