Every once in a while a song is inspired by true events. The amored truck in this song overturned in Overtown, near Miami, on Wednesday, January 8th, 1997. It was the “God sent a truck” quote that appealed to me most. That just cracked me up. See the story here.
I’ve always enjoyed this kind of Robin Hood, Bonnie and Clyde, rob from the rich, give to the poor story. Some may think that keeping the money, the lack of cooperating with the police, presents a moral dilemma. I wonder if my conscience would bother me if I were one of Overtown’s windfall residents. I don’t judge them for it. In fact the song is down right celebratory.
In our kindergarten classroom, I would read Charlie and the Chocolate factory aloud every year. For me, this book peaks early; the excitement of going to the factory was never as emotionally gratifying as the excitement of starving Charlie finding the last Golden Ticket. That’s a tear jerker moment right there. How does this connect to Overtown?
When Charlie is at his lowest, he finds a dollar in the snow. It is the perfect moral dilemma for a bunch of 5 years olds. The books asks. “Is it his dollar? Can he have it?” When the chapter was I would always circle back to that question. Could he have it? Should he keep it? What if you found a dollar on playground? Can you keep it? Should you keep it? This made for some very rich philosophical discussion.
Circumstances matter. They mattered for Charlie and I suspect they may have mattered for some in Overtown. Funny as it is, I’m not entirely convinced that God didn’t send that truck.