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We called it, "The Privilege Contest" and on 12 december, 2003 we picked the winners!
Kristie Dale Sanders, Charlie, and Adam Miller at the BC/EFA flea market
Urinetown : the Musical is about a mythical place where, because of a terrible water-shortage, the "right" to go to the bathroom has been taken away. It has become a "privilege" and one has to pay a fee to relieve oneself. Behind the hilarity of this premise in the musical, lies a serious comment on the nature of "Rights" and "Responsibilities." This was our contest question:
We had an overwhelming response of well thought-out, meaningful, heartfelt responses. In the end, we couldn't limit it to 4 honorable mentions, so we picked 6! You wrote about what it would be like to have to pay for the ability to think, visiting with family, having a family, your children, your parents, your freedom and personal liberties, your health, social contacts, life and living, human rights, dreams, feelings, and friendship. All things that we value so much in our lives. This was truly a difficult decision to pick the winners, but here they are. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as we did. Thank you to all of you for your genuine, warm and candid thoughts.
The grand prize winner was: Sabine from Germany on silence. Though we all value technology, there is nothing like the silence that allows the stillness of the mind, body and spirit as that is when greatness happens. What I would miss the most if it were no longer freely available is silence. By silence I don't mean absolute silence but rather the absence of all man-made noise. In today's hectic, technological world we are constantly surrounded by a blanket of noise: cars, radios, TV, cell phones, and much more, resulting in auditory overload which makes us sick physically and emotionally. Silence is a gift. It can be soothing, relaxing, inspiring, but also overwhelming and frightening. We have become so used to all the outside stimulations that sometimes silence can appear unnerving. But deep in our souls there's a longing for peace and quiet. Being in the middle of a forest listening to the birds singing and the wind rustling through the trees, or being in the mountains and hearing the cry of an eagle, is bliss. Silence gives us the opportunity to reflect, and to listen to our inner voice that is so often drowned out by the outside noise. As William Penn put it: "True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment."
Our honorable mentions, in no particular order, are as follows: Shirah from Florida as she so eloquently points out, on the ability to speak. The one thing I would miss the most if I suddenly had to pay for it and couldnąt afford it would undoubtedly be the ability to Speak. As a Speech-Language Pathologist, I am in a profession where I interact with individuals who labor with every word they utter, words that flow so effortlessly from most people. I have witnessed the humiliation, discouragement and defeat of those struggling to communicate their thoughts, feelings and ideas through a vessel that has betrayed them. As human beings, we are by any standards an expressive machine, powered by the credo of communication among ourselves and others. There is nothing more tragic than a personąs very soul being silenced simply because of a malfunctioning physical mechanism. From those who have a stutter so severe that they have cut themselves off from the outside world due to feelings of defeat and inadequacy, to those who have experienced a stroke and are locked within their thoughts, completely unable to express their beliefs through speech, the consequence is the same. Few people are grateful for the ability to speak- except those who live without this capability. I would never want to be deprived of this privilege in life. Catie Walker from Kansas and her mandolin. I thought this was really innovative and honest! While considering the question for this essay, what came to mind were all the generic things anyone would think of Family, a best friend, or even my cat. But the more I thought about it, the more obvious the real answer was. The one thing I would miss the most, should I suddenly be forced to pay for the privilege of it, would be my mandolin. why a mandolin, you ask? well, to put it simply, it's a way of expressing myself. just as a singer expresses him or herself through voice or an actor through the plays or television shows around, i express myself through my mandolin. if i was never able to play again, hours of my days would go wasted. i would never be able to sit around, plucking out songs and learning new techniques. the mandolin has finally given me something to devote my attention to. i've become one of the only nineteen-year-old females i know who can walk around unabashedly displaying the calloused tips of my fingers from hours of playing. despite it sounding a bit cliché, losing my mandolin would be losing a piece of me. it's become part of my everyday life. Michelle from North Carolina in her touching tribute to her daughters who helped restore her faith after the unthinkable loss of her son. The thing I could not afford to pay for would be my faith. My faith has been priceless to me over the years. After the loss of my son I lost my faith and thought all was gone. Through it all, my girls had enough faith for me. Their faith kept me going and helped me restore my faith. My faith was very important when my husband and I were on the way to separation. My faith was priceless in showing my that my husband and I were meant to be together. Our faith has kept us together for twelve years. How could I ever put a price on my faith? It is more than a privilege to me. Taking it for granted at one time has made it very important to me, now. Thank you Mr. Shaughnessy for making me sit down and think about what is important to me. Jerry from Maryland on books, which have been a foundational privilege in my own life. i would miss books the most. a good book will whisk a reader away to far away lands, different cultures or different time periods. i still remember vividly certain books, the impact they had on me, and the intensity with which i was drawn into the stories. i will never forget places james michner wrote about or the sea-faring novels of patrick o'brian. as much as i love movies, you have more freedom with a book to visualize a person or a situation, rather than having everything spelled out for you. i can forget everything else that is going on and concentrate on the world that is set out on the pages. on more than one occasion i have had to choose between finishing a book and getting enough sleep so that i can function the next day. the only problem with reading a really good book is finishing- i find that i want to read the book quickly so i can find out what's going to happen next, but then when i come to the end of the book, it's a bittersweet feeling. Sue from Maryland about the memories of past generations that she passes down to her children. Memories are a privilege. I wouldnąt trade for anything the memory of playing catch with my father on Friday nights before dinner, sometimes it would be just the two of us, and sometimes my older brother and sisters would join in. Or memories of watching him try to water-ski, and seeing him fall flat on his face again and again, but always getting out of the water with a smile on his face or a twinkle in his eye. I will always remember our annual visits to my grandparents who lived halfway across the country and at those times getting to see my cousins who were scattered across the country. When I tell my children about some of my memories of growing up, they beg to hear more stories about their family, about various misadventures. They love to hear repeatedly the story of how my sister, while tagging after our older brother and some of his friends, fell into a deep pile of mud, and he begrudgingly pulled her out, minus one shoe and she had to walk home (luckily not too far), crying, partially barefoot. Life would be very boring without memories. Celine from the Netherlands on the fundamental privilege that people have been fighting for throughout all time, the freedom of speech and individuality. To our minister I can say that I disagree with our government, without becoming a victim of that same government. In a church I can say that I don't believe in God, without being crucified by the priests around me. To my friend I can say that he's done something wrong, without being betrayed by that very friend. In college I can say to my professor that I prefer another theory, without being forced to become a drop-out. At work I can tell my boss that I disagree, without being unemployed for the rest of my life. And most of all: I can be who I want to be, without fear of being punished because I am who I am. To me, that's the greatest privilege of all. Because what has life left you if you can't even afford to be yourself?
This was the contest:
To answer this question, think "nouns," a noun being the name of a person, place, thing, or idea. You can be abstract in your choices. Use your imagination, think about what is truly meaningful to you. As an example, what about air to breathe? We are polluting our planet so fast, can you imagine a time when Oxygen will be in such short supply that we will each have an allotted supply to last our whole lifetime and any extra would have to be paid for?
Because we get such wonderful entries from all of you, this time we will have one (1) grand prizewinner and four (4) honorable mention winners. The grand prize winner will win: a signed, by Charlie, playbill from "Urinetown, The Musical", a personally inscribed photo of Charlie and a personally inscribed book of "Urinetown, The Musical". The four honorable mention winners will win: a signed, by Charlie, playbill from "Urinetown, The Musical", and a personally inscribed photo of Charlie.
Only ONE (1) entry per person. You MUST include your first and last name and the city & state or city & country where you live and a legitimate email address that is not blocked, as that is how we will contact you. You MUST have the words Privilege contest as the subject title of the email or we may not receive it. You MUST limit your entries to 200 words or less
This is very important. With so many to read you MUST limit your entries to 200 words or less. This will be strictly adhered to. NO exceptions. Anything over 200 words will be disqualified. It MUST be 200 words or less. If it is over 200 words, no matter how good it is, it will not be eligible for the contest. NO EXCEPTIONS. Just to make it clear, this 200 word limit applies to the entry itself. The part with your name and where you are from is separate and not counted as part of the 200 words. One way to ensure your entries contain 200 words or less is to count them by hand OR, an easier solution. . . is to first create it in MS Word and then use Tools --> Word Count menu option which automatically counts the words. (or any word processing program that counts the number of words in your document) Once it is 200 or less, you can then just copy it and paste your entry into an email. To keep it honest and give everyone an equal chance, remember, only one entry per person will be considered AND . . . You MUST have your first and last name and the city & state or city & country where you live and a legitimate email address that is not blocked, as that is how we will contact you. You MUST have the words Privilege contest as the subject title of the email or we may not receive it.
The winning entries will be posted on the website. The winner will be announced on or about 30 November, 2003. Any entry that does NOT meet the rules properly will be disqualified and will NOT be eligible to win. Have fun! ~Charlie
Any personally identifiable information will be used solely by Shaughnessy Productions. The name and winning entry will be posted to the website. IF you are the winner, at that time you will need to give us a full postal mailing address in order to receive your prize. It cannot be emailed. Entries become the sole property of Shaughnessy Productions.
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To read about the book, go to this link 