02 July 2009
Posted in Anecdotes - Planning

A girl from Berkeley told a story about People's Park. When people were fixing up the park, some of them took shovels and just started digging a hole. They had not really talked about why they were digging the hole, but every day they continued. Other people would also stop and dig for a while, and the hole got deeper and deeper. They did not recognize any kind of leadership. At first they thought they should make a fountain, but the hole was getting too big for a fountain. So then they thought a wading pool for kids would be the thing, but the hole was getting too big for a wading pool. Then they thought a swimming pool would be nice, but that would be dangerous without lifeguards or a fence around it. But they kept digging anyway.
One day a guy came up, picked up a shovel and started shoveling dirt back into the hole. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" someone shoveling the dirt out shouted angrily.
"You feel like shoveling dirt out of the hole. I feel like shoveling dirt into the hole. You did your thing, and I'm doing mine."