 | | There's an unspoken tradition in our neighborhood that's beyond belief, but we'll tell you about it anyway. Without exception, the parents raise their children so that they're mindful of the virtues of sharing, which will surely be a benefit to them as they grow older and socialize. On any given Saturday night, herds of kids wheel about the streets on bicycles, skateboards, roller blades, scooters, and the like. When a boy tires of his bike, he exchanges it for a girl's skateboard; when a girl tires of her roller blades, she trades them for a boy's scooter; and so it goes. What the tradition seems to be is that any kid will share his or her wheels with any other kid, as long as the borrower's Dad hauls the stupid thing from the middle of the street back to its owner at the end of the evening. Anyone who has seen the neighborhood Dads out on the streets at 10 p.m. on a weekend night will learn this piece of wisdom: sharing is nice, but it's often inefficient—and inelegant. | |
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