Saving Fish from Drowning - Heal Burma

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DARWIN’S FITTEST
The only thing certain in times of great uncertainty is that
people will behave with great strength or weakness, and with
very little else in between. I know from experience. In fact, I am
reminded all too clearly of a time when my family faced mortal dan­
ger and a perilous future. I tell it to you now as example of how one
incident can be instructive for life.
It was 1949, and we were leaving our family home in Shanghai on
the eve of the Communist takeover. I have already mentioned what
madness it was, determining what to take and arranging for our pas­
sage. There was room for only our family, so we weren’t able to take
any of our servants with us, which was terribly sad for all of us, but
we also realized we were shockingly ignorant as to how to manage
on our own. Cook and my brothers’ nursemaid wailed unceasingly
to have lost their place in the world. Others—the least industrious of