Transcript - Izzit.org

MAN: Oh, oh.
WOMAN: Why does it take so long to make a shawl I’ll tell you why. Because there are so many
processes you have to go through, before you can turn what’s on a sheep’s back into something that you
can wear. First you’ve got to catch your sheep, then you’ve got to shear it, you’ve got to fetch water to
wash the wool, and then you’ve got to spin the wool into yarn. Hmm… there are dyes to make before you
can color your yarn, and then you’ve got to weave your yarn into cloth, and even that isn’t the end.
Putting on knots and tassels that give a finishing touch takes ages.
MAN: Every one of those processes takes ages. You can see why – setting things up, putting things
away again, and even if you’re good at weaving, it doesn’t mean you’re good at dying or spinning.
WOMAN: And that’s where my idea comes in. There are ten of us here. Suppose we each did only the
thing we were best at
MAN: Ah!
WOMAN: One will do the shearing – enough wool for twenty shawls; another would wash it – all of it;
three would spin it into yarn, and one would dye the yarn. Well, that would leave two to weave it and two
to do the finishing up.
MAN: Ah! That means you wouldn’t waste time setting things up, and putting them away again
WOMAN: Right!
MAN: And there’s something else that could happen, too. It needs a genius to see it. Since they are only
doing the thing they are best at… everybody will get better with practice.
WOMAN: Genius. Anyway, why don’t we give it a try
MAN: Why don’t we
WOMAN: Well, at first it looked like we’d never do it in time.
MAN: Obviously the dyers and weavers couldn’t start until the dye was ready and the wool was spun, so
they helped shear the sheep.
WOMAN: It wasn’t long before we all got very good at our jobs, but we might not have been ready on
time if the shearers and the spinners who finished their jobs quickly, hadn’t helped the weavers and
finishers who were getting behind.
MAN: But, we did what we set out to do.
WOMAN: And in exchange we got what we wanted.
MAN: Oh, lovely!
WOMAN: Nice pot.
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