Original from: Eight Hours Beyond, No.4, 2003
Typing input: Tony Yao
In the summer vacation of 2002, Xiao Fei, a junior high school student in a foreign language school, attended a summer camp jointly organized by the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao. The venue of this activity is in Hong Kong, and the instructors in the camp are also from Hong Kong.
Phillips' parents happily sent Phillips away and welcomed her back a month later. However, I didn't expect that the first thing my daughter said to them was a big surprise, and she "would" them-because it was completely different from their usual education of Phillips, or even the opposite. Whether Phillips' parents are children or parents, the education they receive about people is generally accompanied by some aphorisms: "All people are equal". Revolutionary work only has a different division of labor, and there is no distinction between high and low.
This is how they educate their daughters. However, when Phillips came to this summer camp, his inherent ideas were greatly impacted.
On the day of the start of the summer camp, the organizer gave all campers a novel concept: three meals should be divided into three grades, with only a few upper-class people, middle-class people accounting for one-third of all campers, and most of the rest are lower-class people. This gentleman eats in a luxurious and beautiful restaurant, where the facilities are high-grade and the dishes are delicious. He eats western food with a knife and fork. People who eat there can't help becoming polite. Boys are like gentlemen, girls are like ladies, and their manners and manners reveal good cultivation and good taste. The middle class people, however, have to wait in line to eat with trays, which belongs to the nature of fast food. There is no soup to drink, so we can only drink bottled water, not to mention dessert. They also need to wash their plates and tableware after meals. Inferior people are even worse. When everyone starts to eat, some people have to wait on their superiors first, some people work as waiters in restaurants, wipe dirty tables and chairs at any time, and keep the restaurant clean. Some people give performances to diners, and the superiors will sing whatever songs they order.
So how did the third category come into being? The organizer of the summer camp first divided all the campers into 9 groups. On the first day, each group selected a representative to draw lots. There is one first-class mark, two medium-sized marks and the rest are inferior marks in the pen container. Those who have won first-class and medium-class visas will naturally become first-class and medium-class people on the first day. But in the future, it depends on the performance of each group on the same day to determine the state of the next day. Every night, everyone has a meeting to discuss and decide on three types of people for the next day. A group that wants to be a gentleman must show their achievements and performances on that day as strong evidence to show that they deserve to be a gentleman.
The camp director explained that the first day was decided by lottery, which means that everyone's origin is not his decision. But the first identity is far from your lifelong identity, and the road ahead is still long, so you have to go by yourself. You have to conquer the world by your own ability, change or optimize your identity. At this time, your social status and your role change are basically within your grasp.
The campers were silent when they heard this, and then they began to draw lots in groups-indicating that everyone accepted the rules of the game.
However, rational consent and acceptance are relatively simple. When the campers were divided into upper, middle and lower classes after the lottery, the feeling of inequality and humiliation really came. Few gentlemen walk into the restaurant on the second floor with excitement and a little formality, while middle-class people fill their stomachs gloomily in the fast food restaurant on the first floor, and what they prepare for the inferior is miso soup and boiled rice.
Some inferior people refuse to eat, let alone wear little red riding hood as a waiter for the upper class. They sat outside on the lawn, watching the sumptuous dinner on the second floor. The visible glass curtain wall and the invisible rank divide people into two worlds, two completely different worlds. Some lower-class people began to boo, frolic and sneer, while the upper-class people began to feel uneasy in full view. They feel that they are under unprecedented pressure and can't enjoy the big meal.
The first day's dinner ended so hastily. That night, many people paid for biscuits to satisfy their hunger, but also carried the guidance of the camp meeting.
But the organizers of the camp didn't change their plans. After the next day's activities, according to the agenda published the day before, the "third shift" of that day was selected, so that dinner could be decided according to the selection results. Unfortunately, the upper group on the first day was rated as one of the lower groups on the second day, and each of them tasted the gap.
On the third day, the group that was inferior for two consecutive days finally succeeded in boarding the throne of the superior. They cheered, and of course some people suddenly became cocky.
This selection and evaluation lasted for many days, and everyone gradually got used to it and was able to treat it with a normal heart. The "upper class" is no longer so cheerful and the "lower class" is no longer depressed.
At the end of the summer camp, the organizer gave everyone an activity commemorative handbook with the purpose of moving. They believe that all countries in the world, no matter where you are, are facing a multicultural society. Entering this society, we should not only find our own role orientation, but also understand and respect people with different identities and roles. Only by recognizing the diversity of society can we treat the fairness and unfairness of society with an open mind and a peaceful mind, and members of society can accept and appreciate each other, and everyone will strengthen their sense of social belonging. By dividing everyone into upper, middle and lower classes, let each participant personally feel what kind of mentality and behavior people with different social classes, different cultural backgrounds and different economic incomes have. If you are not satisfied with your role, you can certainly try to change it. Moreover, in modern society, you are not a lonely hero. You need to communicate with people around you, pay attention to team spirit, persuade others to accept your cultural values and achieve your goals together. Of course, some people are very satisfied with their established identity and role. At this time, they actually understand and realize that people from all walks of life have their own different happiness and troubles, and they can maintain a normal heart in life.
This is their original intention.