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Fiorelli’s best laid plans are reduced to drawing straws to decide who gets to go.
FIORELLO: Here, now, I have straws here. All long but one. The short straw wins. Understand? We’ll choose. Paulo! Choose!
A Friend Opposes His Best-Laid Plans
Fiorello Bodoni has to decide who gets to go on the rocket trip to Mars. His friend, Bramante, warns him that no one could truly be happy for the one who gets to go. If Fiorello goes, his children would always think of the rocket and become sick with desire like their father is. According to Bramante, wanting something that is so unrealistic is unhealthy. Fiorello’s wife would become bitter over it. None of his family could just be happy for the one who has the opportunity. No matter who goes to Mars — him, his wife, or one of the children — it would just result in unfulfilled dreams and bitter jealousy that would eat away at the others. What a damper Bramante has put on Fiorello’s best-laid plans! He really is a wet blanket!
Who Qualifies?
Bodoni chooses to ignore Bramante’s warning. That means he has a big decision to make. He lays out a plan for selecting who gets to go. What qualifications must the winner have? Or should it just be left up to luck?
Drawing Straws
Fiorello begins the selection process, but then one of his own family members speaks up, voicing the fear that they are all feeling. Fiorello then sees that his best-laid plans have gone wrong.
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Let’s Talk
Fiorello’s plan to send just one of them on ‘the trip of a lifetime’, a journey to Mars and back, ends in frustration. His best-laid plans have come to nothing. He is forced to admit, ‘Bramante was right — invest in junk.’ Bramante meant, ‘be practical, invest in your business’, but for Fiorello a practical investment in his business means investing in junk. Fiorello has a gut feeling that Bramante’s practical advice isn’t the right thing for him to do. When we, like Fiorello, admit to ourselves that the things we do day after day is just ‘junk’, it is upsetting. Our life feels wasted. Fiorello’s dream has been crushed and he is no longer satisfied with his life. He sees no value in what he’s doing, but he feels trapped in it.
What do you think? Will Fiorello get over it and find satisfaction in life again, be happy with being a junkman? Or will the pain be the trigger that pushes him to take the risk of making big changes. Leave a comment below.
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