Here’s a story I re-tell fairly often. It’s thought-provoking, I feel, and quite relevant to how we think about the world. While I originally read the story in Slavoj Zizek’s Violence, Zizek implies it’s a story he heard elsewhere. I’ve assumed it’s like most little stories and jokes: The sort of thing that gets passed around and transformed so completely over time that it’s most accurately thought of as authored by dozens of nameless contributors. Here is my own rendition:
A factory experienced a run of thefts and the supervisor told the night guard to begin inspecting the workers before they left. The night guard did so, staying until everyone else had gone. When the last worker of the night came through, the guard inspected him and his wheelbarrow thoroughly. At the end of the week, the supervisor called the guard in and told him that the thefts were still happening. The guard was baffled, and so began inspecting the workers more thoroughly. When the last worker came through, the guard asked him to empty his pockets and inspected every inch of his wheelbarrow. But again, the supervisor called him in and said the thefts were continuing.
During the third week, the guard became neurotically thorough, patting down every worker. When the last worker came through, he very nearly strip-searched him. He even searched for hidden compartments in the wheelbarrow. At the beginning of the next week, the supervisor called him in once again and told him the thefts had continued. Flustered, the guard elaborated on all he had done. “What more do you want me to do?” he asked. “I don’t know,” said the supervisor. “But we have to find the person who keeps stealing our wheelbarrows!”
What do you think? What do you think are some of the most prominent “wheelbarrows” in contemporary society? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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