Leave it to tiny children to punch us in the gut with some realness only a few days into 2018. When this first-grade teacher decided to pose a fun riddle to his class, he probably didn't anticipate that his students would send him (and the entire Internet) spiraling into an existential and philosophical crisis of epic proportions.
Thanks, kid. Your teacher tried to get you thinking and add some lighthearted entertainment to the school day, and you paid him back with a stark reflection on humanity, religion, and all this other crap we didn't want to think about yet this year. We are mere days into 2018. All we wanted to worry about was our green smoothies and that year-long gym membership we just foolishly splurged on.
When first-grade teacher Bret Turner took a dry-erase marker to the whiteboard to provide his class with a riddle Tuesday morning, he probably didn't anticipate that he would end up questioning his entire existence.
The first guess from one of my 1st graders was “death” and such an awed, somber, reflective hush fell over the clas… https://t.co/gP4YmJkvTY— Bret Turner (@Bret Turner)1514935897.0
Hilarious! We're chuckling. Oh, wait, no, now we're crying.
How did we get here? Yes, how did we get to this crying-laughing disaster face, but also how did we arrive on this planet, at this moment in time, at this juncture in the universe. What does it all mean? What is life, if not the aftermath of death?Of course, kid No. 1 wasn't the only offender.
Before I finally revealed the "correct" answer to the riddle, to a largely unimpressed audience, I fielded other gu… https://t.co/JRC9S9OeY2— Bret Turner (@Bret Turner)1514998849.0
Ever the mensch, even in the face of a philosophical crisis, Turner tweeted that he might tell his class that they've become famous for piercing the consciousness of the entire Internet.
I’m considering telling the kids tomorrow that a tweet about them went viral, and given their facility with the int… https://t.co/wgBnwkGkBc— Bret Turner (@Bret Turner)1515030740.0
Even if these kids are more concerned with their right to use the toilet than with going viral, it cannot be denied that they started a conversation.
@LonelyGoomba @bretjturner @AndroidPeach In practical terms, death leads to new life. Your remains become a part of… https://t.co/oKEyiCiN47— ♀️ Sal Robins🟥#IStandWithJKR ♀️ (@♀️ Sal Robins🟥#IStandWithJKR ♀️)1514995170.0
One thing about this story is for sure: Kids are smarter than adults. This similarly brilliant test answer proves it:
from funny
Not only can we rely on kids for existential crises, but we can also count on them to call out sexism and misogyny of the everyday kind:
8 year old daughter's schoolwork - check out Q1 #looklikeasurgeon #mummyisasurgeon (and so is daddy!) https://t.co/4vxk5wsqGJ— Robert Sutcliffe (@Robert Sutcliffe)1507744968.0