Given name, family name. Necessity is the mother of invention. It turns out that Invention was adopted.

Without a mother, Invention showed great panache in adapting. The grand mother of Necessity was Deprivation. To deprive a human being is the lowest form. A cruel grandmother is the stuff of many a scary bed time story and the beginning of genetics as a field of study and also some concern. Conservative was a second child who envied his brother Optimism. Optimism was often dropped on his head as a child and as a consequence experienced visions. Conservative on the other hand was jealous of his brother as he too had often been dropped, but only on his ass. He drew only bad conclusions from this. Depravity was a middle child neither ruffled by the expectations mothering bestows on a first babe, nor the forgetful anguish and freedom bestowed on the last. Depravity never did much with his life except prove the moral tales to be untrue and merely life lengthening. Corrupt though he was, he partied a lot and experienced a myriad of sexual encounters. As long as he didnt stay at your place or you didnt lend him money it was OK - He lived only to please himself. He could be talked into doing just about anything, if sufficient adventure were in it for him. Depravity could be surprising fearless and at times more than a little stupid. His death was premature and the details of it suppressed in the newspapers in the interests of public decency. The longest lived of all the little children was Temerity. Temerity was best friends with Sincerity and for a while with Honesty. There was always a right time and place for Honesty; but more often then not she was in the wrong place or at the wrong time and a real pain. Sincerity on the other hand was consistent; neither time nor place convoluted her she was true to every moment. But as she grew up Temerity became the longest and fullest lived of her immediate circle. Similar to Honesty, Temerity could be a really disruptive and inconvenient at times, but unlike Honesty she was always rash, flagrant, and full of cheek. If you took the time to get to know her, Temerity had a highly redeemable character. Honesty suffered from an adherence to the facts that verged on petty. Temerity had her close circle of friends and despite her antagonist leanings, in time had only one enemy, her arch rival Harmony. Harmony was articulate, funny, self-effacing and helpful to the smaller children, but only when such measures proved socially reputable. If any activity occurred in the social realm Harmony had to be involved. She simply loved the company of others, even though she often dedicated as much effort to partaking in unspoken feuds and playing favourites, as she did in being a part of peoples lives. One day Honesty and Harmony got into a fight. Temerity caught Harmony secretly beating the snot out of Optimism in the corner of a room. Harmony, in a somewhat self-congratulatory tone had earlier announced that I have to be the most genuine of everybody I know, because I know the greatest number of people, if not well, at least favourably. As a friend I am the living epitome of the greatest good for the greatest number concept. Overhearing this and caught up in the bright, happy air that she had said it in Optimism couldnt help but be swept up in complete agreement with her and thus added Yes! Lets hope one day the on-the-surface, socially-efficient manner that you use to avoid conflict and maintain consensus by keeping people in their place catches on. First, one-on-one talk can be phased out, and eventually communication as a whole can be brought down. No media, no opinion the globe can become an entirely visual medium. No emotion, no fear, no love, just approval or disapproval and an endless set of costume changes! Pressing Optimism into a tight little corner far from the eyes and ears of the majority, Harmony proceeded to beat the living out of him. Temerity, seeing a look of completely betrayed shock and murderous vengeance in Harmonys eyes that she hadnt seen before, did what she did best and Intervened; she only had to say. In a guilt culture the emphasis is on the individual to experience racks of bad feeling all by their own volition. In a shame culture the threat of ostracism is the determining moral factor. But either way one day youll realise you have to Make the most of your regrets. . . To regret deeply is to live afresh.(Henry David Thoreau).

The cause or conditions that lead up to bad feelings doesnt decide what is affirming nor who is in the wrong. Good and bad is a bi-polar disorder. If you can teach your children one thing solid let it be this: Understand your values and value the understanding only. What is fair and what is good stretches as far as the community you live in. But what is better ultimately lies with something youll never get the opportunity to prepare for. Neither ignorance nor experience can protect you. With that Harmony let optimism go and stormed off to have a bitch session with sincerity.