2.11b

Prompt: What would you do to make the world a little less screwed up?

For the lack of a nail, the shoe was lost.

His short-term plan was to wear a different color every day. Monday was red. Tuesday was orange. Wednesday was yellow, and so forth. He spent a small fortune on clothing that fit his needs. Soon, he assembled sets of clothing that fit his purposes. He started finally one Sunday with his purple. His wife rolled her eyes at him and went back to her magazine. He walked boldly down the street to the corner to buy life savers, eat all the purples, and give the rest away. On Monday, his friends at work gave his red suit a few weird stares, and then settled in for the long haul. He bought skittles, ate all the reds, and gave the rest away. Finally on Friday, his boss called him into his office.

He settled his blue into a chair. "Dan, what's happening?"

"I'm changing the world. Would you like a starburst? I have red, yellow, and green left."

There was silence for a few minutes, and then his boss stood up and motioned to the door of the office. As Dan opened the door, his boss asked "This won't change your work performance" but it was more like a statement, not a question.

"Of course."

Three weeks of color and it stopped being a novelty. His coworkers stopped sending pictures to their friends and telling their friends.

Three months of color and it stopped being interesting to them.

Every day he bought candy, ate all of the color he was wearing, and gave the rest away.

One day, he was picking up his daughter at school and one particularly popular 13-year old girl approached him. "Hey, Melissa's dad--why do you do this?"

"I'm changing the world. Would you like the rest of my jellybeans? I'm afraid I ate all the indigo."

She stood for a while, and said nothing. When she left, she decided to ignore Melissa for a while.

Thirty years later, no one cared. He was just the kook down the street. Finally, his daughter asked him why he dressed monochromatically every day. "Daddy, why?"

"I'm changing the world. Would you like a gummy bear?"

She paused, like everyone else always did. But she kept going, because she knew him.

"How?"

"I'm glad you asked." He smiled. "I dress like this because it's a daily reminder to be happy. Life is too short to spend it wearing black. If I dress in bright colors every day and share my joy with everyone I meet, I'm sure to change somebody's life."

She had never thought about her father as wise before.

She went back to the hospital where she worked with seven pairs of new, bright-colored scrubs. On Monday, she wore red. On Tuesday, she wore orange. On Wednesday, she wore yellow, and so forth. Soon, the nurses were monochromatic every day of the week. The hospital got on the news. Other people started picking up the habit. After a few years, government officials' ties, school teachers' shirts, preteens' fingernails, and truck drivers' hats were all color-coordinated. And everybody had a reminder to be happy.

For the lack of a nail, the shoe was lost,

for the lack of a shoe, the horse was lost,

for the lack of the horse, the rider was lost,

for the lack of the rider, the charge was lost,

for the lack of the charge, the battle was lost,

for the lack of the battle, the war was lost,

for the lack of the war, the kingdom was lost,

and all for the lack of a nail.