“The children had stones already. And someone gave little Davy Hutchinson few pebbles.

Tessie Hutchinson was in the center of a cleared space by now, and she held her hands out desperately as the villagers moved in on her. “It isn’t fair,” she said. A stone hit her on the side of the head. Old Man Warner was saying, “Come on, come on, everyone.” Steve Adams was in the front of the crowd of villagers, with Mrs. Graves beside him.

“It isn’t fair, it isn’t right,” Mrs. Hutchinson screamed, and then they were upon her.”

That was the last few passages from the GREAT short story, The Lottery, by Shirley Jackson.  People generally believe that winning the lottery is a great thing.  But, what happens when the lottery winner is the person that is stoned to death, as is the case in The Lottery?

We generally believe that options are a good thing because they provide opportunity and choices.  But, what happens when the person you love sees you as an option and won’t accept your proposal?

Lying is supposed to be bad, but isn’t it ok to lie to protect a surprise?  Quitting is something that shows weakness, unless of course you’re quitting cigarettes.  Trust your parents, because they have your best interest in mind, well unless your parent is Michael Lohan.

To advance the ball forward, assuming forward is a good thing, we need to start reframing what we think we know.  We need to challenge the beliefs we hold close to home.  It’s only when we stop accepting things for we’ve been told they are, they we can start creating things that stand out.