A wee bit of misfortune

Winners of the Nobel prizes were announced last week. While Al Gore's winning was often in the news, a UofU professor Dr. Mario Cappechi, also took home the prize. The remarkable thing about Mario's winning is that he came from anything but a prestigious background. In fact, he was homeless as a child, wandering the streets sick and starving (click here to learn more…but don't forget to come back!).

And this is a British op-ed piece in response to the story—Midgley's commentary is about those parents who think they're creating the world's most successful person starting in utero. An excerpt:

Now, is this a story that will make the average neurotic parent stop and reflect while preparing their little darling’s organic alfalfa packed lunch to eat at Saturday violin lessons? Will it register that, while they lie awake fretting that if they don’t get their toddler into exactly the right feeder nursery then their whole life is doomed, here is a person who has achieved the very zenith of success yet lived his formative years like a pack dog?

You'll have to read the piece for yourself, and don't forget to read people's comments in response…it's a hot topic. I loved the first comment:

To paraphrase in modern English a medieval Scots proverb:

"the best gift a Fairy Godmother
can give her new born godchild
is a wee bit of misfortune."

Amen.