David Shannon wrote and illustrated an outstanding picture book that illustrates the danger of trying to please others and not being true to oneself.
A Bad Case of Stripes is about a girl who was overly concerned about what the other school children thought about what she did and said.
I suspect that Camilla never felt that anything about her was good enough, and that is why she she tried very hard not to cause anyone to look down on her. Because the other kids did not like lima beans, Camilla did not eat them either. But Camilla liked lima beans, and as she repressed her own preferences more and more–just to fit in, she caught a Bad Case of Stripes.
A doctor examined her and said that Camilla could return to school.
At school, the other kids ridiculed her unmercifully. As they hurled insults at her, Camilla’s appearance would change according to the insult.
More doctors examined her, and one doctor gave Camilla a bottle of pills to help rid her of her malady.
But Camilla turned into a bottle of pills.
Soon after that, Camilla turned into her entire room.
Out of nowhere, an old grandma-like healer appears at the door.
Voila! Camilla becomes herself once again. But this time, Camilla has learned her lesson. Enjoy this reading of A Bad Case of Stripes.
But I’m not finished.Something about this book reminds me of the 2 witches in the Broadway Musical Wicked:
Popular, I Want to Be Popular – I’m Catching A Wicked Case of Stripes
Did the 2 witches learn anything in Wicked? Yes. Elphaba realized–just in the nick of time–that chasing popularity was not a game that she wanted to play. And shallow Glinda–she learned a few lessons, too. Ultimately, Glinda did not succeed at turning Elphabapa into what she wanted for her, but both witches were changed for good.
Standing in the middle of the road is very dangerous; you get knocked down by the traffic from both sides. – Margaret Thatcher
If you just set out to be liked, you would be prepared to compromise on anything at any time, and you would achieve nothing.– Margaret Thatcher
Herein lies the key: If you try to please all of the people all of the time, you have elected to stand for nothing concrete. To stand for something is to get off the fence and to get out of the middle of the road.
“You can please some of the people some of the time all of the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time.” – Abraham Lincoln
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