Think About It - Brain Exercise: What Would You Do?

"What Would You Do?" - a situation requiring judgment is presented for discussion. This exercise is designed to provide a mental workout to compliment the physical movement presented elsewhere.

Here’s a moral dilemma to read and discuss. Read or listen to the scenario and this time imagine you are the brother with the stored grain and water. Remember, there are no right or wrong answers. It’s all a matter of personal opinion.

You and your brother are cattle farmers and have been all your lives. Everything the two of you know and love has to do with cattle farming, a trait you inherited from your father and his father before him. You each have around 600 head of cattle on your respective farms.

For the past three years, there has been a serious drought. Cattle feed is hard to come by, water is becoming very expensive and many area cattle farmers have already had to sell up and move on.

You, however, have been stockpiling grain and water for some time in case of a drought and you have enough to water and feed your cattle for the next four years. You haven’t really told anyone about your stockpile, but your brother knows about it. You know that realistically the drought would have to break in the next year or so, because the longest drought on record has been three years and you are confident that this one will soon end.

One day, your brother comes over and tells you that he simply can’t afford to feed and water his cattle any longer. He tells you he will need to sell out unless the two of you can work out a deal that will allow him to share your stockpile. You tell him that he needn’t worry because you have plenty of food and water to last you each at least another two years. You tell him that he is more than welcome to use your food and water. Your brother is grateful and happy that he will no longer have to sell his farm because like you, he has been a cattle farmer all his life.

After a month of the sharing arrangement, you do a stock check of your supplies and somehow the water has leaked into the grains, causing much of it to be damaged. You realize that if you continue to share your food and water with your brother, you will be lucky if it lasts six months. There is no
gaurantee that the drought will end in that time and if it doesn’t, you will both be forced to sell.

You think about it and realize that if you tell your brother about the damaged grain, he will insist on no longer taking any more from you, but it will crush him greatly to do so because his farm is his life. If you tell him, it means you will be able to keep all the stock and supply for yourself and you will probably be able to last another year, which should take you into the next predicted wet season. If you don’t tell him and continue to share, there’s a chance neither of you will make it and both farms will have to be sold.

What Would You Do?
• Would you tell your brother about the damaged grain? Why? Why not?
• If the second farmer wasn’t your brother, but instead was just a neighbor, would that make a difference? Why? Why not?

Source: http://www.activitydirectorscompanion.com/walkthrough-samplepages.aspx

We design and print activity calendars and newsletters!  1-877-CORWIN2
http://www.mycorwincalendar.com/
http://mycorwinonline.com/