Make it a big deal, and it will become a big deal

In Charlie’s elementary school, making a gun with your fingers and pretending to shoot the other children (and presumably teachers) is not allowed, which seems fairly sensible to me.

In today’s world, even pretend shootings can be unsettling.

Here’s the rub, as explained by Charlie:

When teachers just told kids to stop making guns with their fingers, the kids would stop. But when they announced it as a school rule and everyone made a big deal out of it, everyone started making guns with their fingers and shooting everyone. Even the kids that weren’t doing it before.

In the actual words of Charlie: “When you make something a big deal, everyone thinks it’s a big deal.”

Unlike his sister, Charlie has never expressed the desire to be a teacher, but he may have the instincts to be a great one.

He at least possesses a great deal of common sense alongside an unfortunate desire to adhere to rules at all costs.

Also a healthy dose of silliness.