Bits & Pieces Index

The Starfish Thrower

Early one morning after a storm out at sea a young man was walking on the beach when he saw an old man ahead of him. It looked like the old man was exercising for he was bending down then straightening up and making a throwing motion out to sea.

As the young man came closer he saw that the old man was picking up starfish and throwing them back into the sea. The beach was covered with hundreds of the little creatures that had washed out in the night due to the storm. What the old man was doing seemed like a pointless exercise to him. It did not seem to make any difference to the numbers on the beach however many the old man threw back.

"Seems like a waste of time to me" said the young man as he approached the old man. "Soon the sun will be up, and all these starfish will die. What difference will saving one or two make?" The old man bent down picked up another starfish and threw it out to sea "it makes a difference to that one" he said as he bent down to pick up another starfish.

The young man thought about this for a while then he too bent down and picked up a starfish.