Today we were at the playground and Abigail made friends with a boy her age. While watching them run around, I tried to read the slogan printed in block white letters on his black T-shirt
CHOOSE THE WAY OF THE HERD
As they played, I wondered what that meant: choose the way of the herd?
Why choose the herd? Ah, where are kids going these days with their clothing anyways?!
And why wasn’t there a picture of sheep instead of Spidey?
Then it came to me, after a second glance
CHOOSE THE WAY OF THE HERO.
HERO not HERD. Funny how one letter can make a difference between being a farm animal and being a firefighter.
Funny too how different HERO is from HERD. How often is a Herd a Hero? How many times is the Hero separate from the Herd? It seems to me that often the herd needs a hero, and not so often that the herd is a hero.
1 response so far ↓
1 Bob V // May 7, 2004 at 1:55 pm
I can’t tell you how disappointed I am that it isn’t “herd”. “Choose the way of the herd” has an obvious meaning to me: go with others, follow the herd. To an American psyche like mine, it’s a subserviant message. My immediate response is “no! I don’t want to be with the herd!” Then, the second interpretation arises. “Choose the way of the herd” means that you should decide which way the herd goes. Determine the way of the herd. *Lead* the herd. “Choose the way of the hero” doesn’t have an interesting double meaning that I can see.