Somebody brings the water

A neighbourhood running group in Muscat meets early on Saturday mornings. Thirty or so people turn up. Someone has to bring water, mark the route and remember the cones. In practice, the same four people do it every week.

The others are not bad people. Some are stretched thin, with small children and long hours. Some quietly believe they have nothing to give, that the group runs by itself and their part would not be missed. Either way, most people in any group give less than an even split would ask of them. That is not a scandal. It is arithmetic, and it holds in a family, a street, a small business or a cause.

Which leaves a plain choice for anyone who wants the thing to improve rather than merely continue. Wait for everyone to carry an equal load and nothing gets better, because that day does not come. Or accept from the start that you will carry more than your portion.

Not as a martyr, and not keeping score. Simply because the gap left by those who cannot, or think they cannot, has to be filled by someone, and the people who notice the gap are the obvious ones to fill it.

The four who bring the water are not being taken advantage of. They are the reason there is a group at all.