Microstory 728: Credos, Convention Three: Cooperation, Chapter Two

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The couple left the lower neighborhood having learned a valuable lesson. They went into the upper neighborhood and bought nice clothes. Then they sought new jobs as uppers. No one would hire them, for though they wore nice clothes, they still behaved like middles. They still did not carry themselves with a sense of entitlement that uppers had come to expect. “That man in the lowers has ruined our chances,” one of them said. The other replied, “he has made us question our choices, and now we do not exude confidence.” And so they returned to their home, saddened and angry, and gave up on their dreams of moving. They did, however, still have all this lottery money they needed to spend. So they worked on the house they already had, remodeling it and expanding to an extra floor. They were hoping to rent out the extra space so they could make even more money. Weeks later, a tornado formed on the edge of town. It rampaged through the upper neighborhood, tearing apart the buildings, killing many, and injuring many more. In but a few minutes, the upper neighborhood was gone. Out of the surviving uppers, some still had places to live, but many did not. They sought refuge in the lowers and the middles, but were refused by all. They had been so unkind to those less fortunate than them that no one wanted to help them. The couple from before, however, having however reluctantly learned from the charitable upper man, opened their doors. They provided shelter to many uppers whose homes had been lost, and became an example for the entire town. Seeing this, other middles opened their doors as well, and even some lowers with room did the same. The couple became leaders in their community, using what they had learned from their time remodeling their own house to form a new construction company. This provided jobs for lowers, middles, and even uppers, who were not used to manual labor. Together they rebuilt their town, but they did not simply rebuild what they already had. They improved the living conditions of all. In only a few years, the neighborhoods no longer existed. They lived in a town of harmony and camaradery, with everyone afforded the opportunity to live happily. They were still not the richest of the rich, but they were thriving, and the rest of the world saw this, and were inspired to rethink the structure of their towns too.