The Ambulance in the Valley
‘Twere a dangerous cliff, and it fair scared folks stiff,
But the view from the top was so pleasant,
That they swallowed their fear, and there crashed down each year
Full many a squire and peasant.
“Sunthing’s got to be done.” Said the people as one,
But answers did not at all tally.
Some said, “Put a fence ’round the edge of the cliff.”
Some, “An ambulance down in the valley!”
Debate raged and stormed, and a Study was formed,
An they might have been arguing yet,
But solution was found: “Let’s pass the hat ’round,
And see how much money we get.”
A collection was made to accumulate aid
And the dwellers in byway and alley
Gave pounds, shillings and pence – not to furnish a fence
But an ambulance down in the valley.
“For the cliff is all right if you’re careful,” they said;
“And if folks ever slip and are dropping,
It isn’t the slipping that hurts them so much
As the shock down below when they’re stopping.”
So for years (you’ll have heard) as these mishaps occurred
Quick forth would the rescuers sally,
To pick up the victims who fell from the cliff,
With the ambulance down in the valley.
There said on finally, “It’s a marvel to me,
That we give so much greater attention
To repairing results than to curing the cause;
We had much better aim at prevention.
For the mischief, of course, should be stopped at its source,
Come, neighbors and friends let us rally,
‘Tis far better sense to rely on a fence,
Than an ambulance down in the valley.”
“He is wrong in his head,” the majority said;
“He would end all our earnest endeavor.
He’s a man who would shirk this responsible work
But we will support it forever.
Aren’t we picking up all, just as fast as they fall,
And giving them care liberally?
It’s plain that a fence is of no consequence,
If the ambulance works in the valley.?
Employing the contemporary fable “The Ambulance in the Valley” (see below) as a case study, respond to the following questions:
a) How was the boundary set and how did this decision define “the problem”? How else could the boundary have been set?
b) How does the establishment of the boundary establish the preferred interventions?
c) In debating the choice, how was the success/failure of the intervention assessed?
