Ian and Daniel: De Beers vs. Captain Hook

When Ian was digging in the yard a year or so ago, he was consciously excavating a mine - gold, I think - and was already planning on how to secure the mine, with logs and some kind of enclosure, to ensure that nobody steals our precious minerals while we're sleeping. (This might sound familiar to African countries, particularly in the wake of current neocolonial misadventures...)

Daniel, however, has been digging a hole - we've probaby gotten about three inches down so far, at the nadir of the pit - for three purposes: treasure, precious stones, and worms - all equally important - but he is actually much more focused on treasure, at this point, over all other priorities, and has actually been asking how much longer it might take to find treasure - an hour, a day, and the like. (Of course, Ian has been raining on this proverbial parade with his own little "reality checks," which sometimes go too far in the other direction; Ian is only aware of treasure being found twice in all of human history.)

During this morning's excavation, with fingernail and stone as tools, Daniel asked whether he could buy anything he wanted if he found treasure. I opined that he could. Ian then asked Daniel if he would share his money with us, if he were to find treasure. I was unsurprised by the answer:

"I definitely would."

Daniel may be wild, but he's also very generous.

(October 22, 2011)