Level Three. Sorting it Out.

Level Three. Sorting it Out.

By Michelle Lloyd.

At school the speculation had started. What was speculation? New One had only just found out about this term from his mum recently and he had to admit that he was not sure he liked it.

Little Herbert’s grandpa had been the centre of speculation and it meant that a lot of discussion had been had about him. Ideas and even statements had been made about Little Herbert’s grandad that were totally unfounded, there was no evidence but one belief, one suggestion had led to a lot of misplaced conviction.

It did not seem too important at first. Chat had started to circulate about Little Herbert’s grandpa having moved in with the family. New One, having been a firm and faithful ally of Little Herbert, knew about this development but as it was correctly assumed he did not feel that there was any harm to the talk about it.

Slowly though, the facts about the temporary move in had led to class members suggesting their own reasons for it. Suggestions about the move had ended in certain individuals merging their ideas with their own experiences of hearing about similar situations. The chat started to become more frenzied and as one theory became the accepted one, it took hold and even Little Herbert’s own explanation as for the temporary house guest was no longer believed.

The whispered conversations in class had led to shifty glances and aloof attitudes. All these were sent in Little Herbert’s direction, though the reason for it, he had not a clue. New One had been watching all this with dismay and while he did not want to hurt his friend’s feelings, he felt that someone should make him aware of what was being talked about.

A little discussion and help from New One’s mum meant that he had an open chat about what was actually class speculation. Little Herbert’s grandad who actually had gone to stay with his family while his house had a repair done had ended up, thanks to unfounded speculation, being chased by the authorities after one of his inventions had gone wrong. Utterly wrong but firmly believed, conversations about the so-called incident had ranged from wild notions of contraptions falling apart and causing disarray to onlookers to failed attempts at getting one of his inventions to work startling a neighbour’s pet and having had animal inspectors after him, grandpa obviously needed be hidden by his family. Some classmates were even upset about why Little Herbert was not honest about his family situation.

Having heard about what was being discussed and believed, far from being contrite Little Herbert felt moved to do something about it. It had not been that long since another speculation had ended up in a classmate’s bad experience of what a little bit of rash gossip can do. Slowly others in the class had felt that they knew about his issue more than he did and a bit of well meaning help had nearly put him in danger. This was a lesson that was believed had been learnt but Little Herbert felt that maybe everybody needed reminding of why speculation could be harmful.

Little Herbert had a chat with grandpa about what New One had told him and together they came up with a plan. At school, Little Herbert decided to use a technique that gained everybody’s attention.

Grandpa himself had an introduction by the teacher and a talk about inventions and the importance of learning about the facts first could mean everything about their success or failure. Everybody in class knew of and loved Little Herbert’s grandpa and his inventions. That is why they took to heart his advice about why no unfounded speculations should be had about any ideas, always put in the dedication to research and knowledge. At the end of the day a prematurely developed idea could lead to misunderstanding and a lot of hardship but a bit of time spent on finding out the truth of a situation could mean invaluable knowledge and success in the end result.