1000 euros

I’m displeased. No, make that seething. For several years now I’ve been collaborating with the University of Antsiranana in Madagascar, helping students with their English dissertations. It was voluntary and unofficial, so before I retired, I was keen to consolidate it through an official agreement between our two universities. So I put in a bid for 1000 euros from funds made available by the International Relations Department. This was to pay for a colleague to fly out, meet the partners in Antsiranana and settle the terms of the agreement. It was refused. Our university recently merged with two others to become a single mega-establishment, now the biggest university in France. And they can’t spare 1000 euros. Hey, come on! You’re kidding, right? Now, of course money’s tight and every little bit counts, but let’s just put this in perspective here.

On the Power of Cooperation

                                

“I am a rock,” thought the rock. “How dull! I’d much rather be a star.” The star, stuck up in the sky and only visible at night, wanted to be a fish. The fish, who was decidedly odd, wanted to be a finger. So they all got together and pooled their talents, and everyone was happy.

This is in response to The Bookblogger’s flash fiction foray, where the prompt is a title from a song, in this case Simon & Garfunkel’s I Am A Rock. I was going to do something really serious about St. Peter, but I got sidetracked. (If you’re disappointed, St Peter has kindly agreed to be interviewed for the Thursday Interview, though he has yet to confirm a date).