The Little Red Rooster
If the Shoe Fits, Wear it
Once upon a time, there was a little red rooster and his three friends Mr. and Mrs. Armadillo and Miss Tortoise. One day, the little red rooster had a wonderful idea for a business that would both benefit the town they all lived in, the deaf community as a whole, AND enable them all to provide for themselves and their families. So, the little red rooster gathered Mr. and Mrs. Armadillo and Miss Tortoise together and told them all about it. "I will do the work to get businesses certified as deaf friendly so that they will be attractive to the deaf community", said the little red rooster, "And the rest of you can help out by telling the deaf about it and bringing them here". "That sounds like a great idea!", shouted the little red rooster's three friends, "We'll set up a deaf welcome center and promote and sell tickets to the deaf friendly shows!".
Some time passed, and the little red rooster worked hard to fulfill his dream of making his town friendly and attractive to the deaf community. He knocked on doors, talked to hundreds of managers and owners, and even worked with deaf organizations to organize official deaf events in his town. But when he went to his three friends to ask them how their efforts were going on promoting the events to the deaf community, what he heard was very discouraging. Instead of doing as the little red rooster and going out ot knock on doors, rally the local deaf community, and promote and market what was happening in their town, they sat. Clinging to their mantra of "we're not ready yet!", they didn't move, they didn't prepare, they didn't work; all they did was sit and wait. The little red rooster's friends weren't helping! They weren't doing their part! What should the little red rooster do? Being the kind and big-hearted rooster that he was, he gently encouraged them and told them what they should do in order to help out. When they still did nothing, he did their jobs for them, while he continued to include them in the benefits, simply because he was just that kind of rooster.
Some of what Mr. and Mrs. Armadillo and Miss Tortoise should have been doing was to leverage the assistance of organizations and local businesses who would directly benefit from the achievement of the little red rooster's goals. Since neither Mr. and Mrs. Armadillo OR Miss Tortoise had found the motivation or had sufficient understanding to do this, the little red rooster once again rose to the occasion and did his AND their jobs, speaking to the local community with tireless effort and creating alliances and arrangements that would benefit all.
Now, it so happened that when Mr. and Mrs. Armadillo heard that the little red rooster had done their job for them, their scales became quite ruffled and they were angry with the little red rooster, accusing him of undermining their efforts and taking food off of their table. Ah, if only Mr. and Mrs. Armadillo had taken a moment to ask themselves how much effort they had actually put forth! If only they had taken the time to tally the number of times they actually had opposed the little red rooster instead of supporting him! If only they would have attempted to count the actual number of deaf they themselves had been directly responsible for attracting to their town, or how many tickets they had actually sold to any event since the little red rooster had shared his vision with them! They would have quickly seen that they had absolutely no ground to stand on and that their accusations were really just the manifestation of their own deep-seated unhappiness with themselves for not having the motivation and drive of the little red rooster! They would have seen that their defensiveness stemmed more from their own self-pity and guilty conscience for not having lifted a finger to do their part than it did from being attacked by the little red rooster! They would have clearly seen that the little red rooster, by all rights and by anybody else's judgment, should have left them high and dry long ago for having to have borne their dead weight in this venture. If they would have had the most miniscule of visions, they would have known of a surety that the little red rooster had shown them compassion when none was warranted; that the little red rooster had given them a glimpse into and the benefit of something rarely seen these days: grace.
The barrage of complaints and accusations and threats from Mr. and Mrs. Armadillo made the little red rooster very sad. After all of his efforts, after him proving time and time again to his friends that he did indeed have their best interests at heart (even going so far as to donate his time and labor, and procure nearly free supplies for Mr. Armadillo from the local hardware store!), still the Armadillos saw everything through the guilt-colored glasses of ignorance and chose the little red rooster as their token enemy. Being the big-hearted and compassionate rooster that he was, the little red rooster even still was willing to give his friends the opportunity to ammend their ways and do their parts, if they so desired. Rather than abandon them and leave them wallowing in their own self-pity, he stayed by their side and tried to encourage them and help them see the truth of the matter.
How does the story end? That one cannot say just yet. One thing though that is certain, regardless of what the little red rooster's friends choose to do, despite the mindset they choose to hold onto, and despite what they may or may not do in their ignorance: the big-hearted little red rooster will remain a beacon and a good example, and his vision WILL come to pass, with or without the help of his friends Mr. and Mrs. Armadillo and Miss Tortoise.
The End
Some time passed, and the little red rooster worked hard to fulfill his dream of making his town friendly and attractive to the deaf community. He knocked on doors, talked to hundreds of managers and owners, and even worked with deaf organizations to organize official deaf events in his town. But when he went to his three friends to ask them how their efforts were going on promoting the events to the deaf community, what he heard was very discouraging. Instead of doing as the little red rooster and going out ot knock on doors, rally the local deaf community, and promote and market what was happening in their town, they sat. Clinging to their mantra of "we're not ready yet!", they didn't move, they didn't prepare, they didn't work; all they did was sit and wait. The little red rooster's friends weren't helping! They weren't doing their part! What should the little red rooster do? Being the kind and big-hearted rooster that he was, he gently encouraged them and told them what they should do in order to help out. When they still did nothing, he did their jobs for them, while he continued to include them in the benefits, simply because he was just that kind of rooster.
Some of what Mr. and Mrs. Armadillo and Miss Tortoise should have been doing was to leverage the assistance of organizations and local businesses who would directly benefit from the achievement of the little red rooster's goals. Since neither Mr. and Mrs. Armadillo OR Miss Tortoise had found the motivation or had sufficient understanding to do this, the little red rooster once again rose to the occasion and did his AND their jobs, speaking to the local community with tireless effort and creating alliances and arrangements that would benefit all.
Now, it so happened that when Mr. and Mrs. Armadillo heard that the little red rooster had done their job for them, their scales became quite ruffled and they were angry with the little red rooster, accusing him of undermining their efforts and taking food off of their table. Ah, if only Mr. and Mrs. Armadillo had taken a moment to ask themselves how much effort they had actually put forth! If only they had taken the time to tally the number of times they actually had opposed the little red rooster instead of supporting him! If only they would have attempted to count the actual number of deaf they themselves had been directly responsible for attracting to their town, or how many tickets they had actually sold to any event since the little red rooster had shared his vision with them! They would have quickly seen that they had absolutely no ground to stand on and that their accusations were really just the manifestation of their own deep-seated unhappiness with themselves for not having the motivation and drive of the little red rooster! They would have seen that their defensiveness stemmed more from their own self-pity and guilty conscience for not having lifted a finger to do their part than it did from being attacked by the little red rooster! They would have clearly seen that the little red rooster, by all rights and by anybody else's judgment, should have left them high and dry long ago for having to have borne their dead weight in this venture. If they would have had the most miniscule of visions, they would have known of a surety that the little red rooster had shown them compassion when none was warranted; that the little red rooster had given them a glimpse into and the benefit of something rarely seen these days: grace.
The barrage of complaints and accusations and threats from Mr. and Mrs. Armadillo made the little red rooster very sad. After all of his efforts, after him proving time and time again to his friends that he did indeed have their best interests at heart (even going so far as to donate his time and labor, and procure nearly free supplies for Mr. Armadillo from the local hardware store!), still the Armadillos saw everything through the guilt-colored glasses of ignorance and chose the little red rooster as their token enemy. Being the big-hearted and compassionate rooster that he was, the little red rooster even still was willing to give his friends the opportunity to ammend their ways and do their parts, if they so desired. Rather than abandon them and leave them wallowing in their own self-pity, he stayed by their side and tried to encourage them and help them see the truth of the matter.
How does the story end? That one cannot say just yet. One thing though that is certain, regardless of what the little red rooster's friends choose to do, despite the mindset they choose to hold onto, and despite what they may or may not do in their ignorance: the big-hearted little red rooster will remain a beacon and a good example, and his vision WILL come to pass, with or without the help of his friends Mr. and Mrs. Armadillo and Miss Tortoise.
The End