2023-10-30
25 分钟Pushkin.
We're in a first grade classroom in Beijing, China.
It's about 20 years ago, ahead of the annual holidays.
To mark the occasion, a teacher has brought and wrapped presents for her students.
The gifts are stacked up in a corner, ready to be handed out.
And if you should just stop right there, it would be a great story.
Zhejiang was one of those excited kids.
But she had all of us come to the front of a classroom and said,
hey, why don't you guys say nice things about each other?
If someone calls your name and say something nice about you, you can go get a gift and sit down.
One by one, the kids started sharing kind words about their classmates.
It was great when it started.
Someone can sing really well.
Someone is helpful to other teachers.
And I would applaud and support my turn.
But the flow of compliments soon slowed down, and then petered out completely.
Worried, Xia's teacher asked, um,
Doesn't anyone have anything nice to say about the students who are still at the front of the class?
No one spoke.
Three gifts sat uncollected in the corner, and three kids stood rejected at the front of the room.