May 14, 2009

• Cold School

     Last weekend, I visited New York to attend my friend Jim’s wedding. Jim and I attended the same Korean church when we were boys in Ohio, and he grew up to become a law professor. At the wedding reception, I was seated with some of Jim’s NYC friends, and they asked to hear about Jim’s childhood. A few days later, I recalled this story and emailed it to them.

     When Jim and I were in the fourth grade, our Sunday school teacher used a game to teach us about the Cold War. He divided our class into two countries. I was president of one country, and Jim was president of the other. The teacher gave each country an equal supply of nuclear missiles. After a round of negotiations, each country could either disarm or secretly build more missiles.
     At the end, the teacher would reveal the outcome. The country with more missiles would win. In the case of a nonzero tie, both countries would lose. But if both countries completely disarmed, then both would win.
     At the negotiation, Jim said, “I want us both to win, Mark. Let’s disarm.”
     I agreed, and after conferring with my team, I whispered disarmament orders to the teacher. Jim whispered to the teacher also.
     Then the teacher announced the result. “Country A has no missiles, and Country B built the maximum number. Country B wins!”
     Jim let out a loud burst of laughter. And I’ll never forget what he said next: “Mark, how could you be so stupid?” I was so embarrassed.

     Sadly, Jim wasn’t trying to be insulting — he really was confused! But the story just goes to show the difference between a future lawyer and a future engineer.

  • 3:10 am
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