RAT RACE

It is this time of the year again. Summer is getting to its end and the racers are taking their positions on the tracks. The rat race is about to start!

This is a private event, and the organisers have made sure rats cannot see one another, in order to guarantee the rats' privacy. This is a must, as rats need to be sure their strategies will not be made public.

The first rats to get to the finish line will start biting their winter supply of cheese. It is a truth universally acknowledged that rats have access to plenty of cheese in wide-ranging flavours, textures, and forms during the summer, but as soon as there is a change in the weather they get anxious and join the rat race.

It is not easy to place a bet, and therefore I have decided to simply observe and enjoy the game from my seat.The youngest rats are fast and determined, but get easily distracted from the objective. If someone throws a bit of cheese to them, they will stop and eat it, even if it is a bit of rotten cheese. The rats who already have a cheese supply at home are not as fast as the youngest rats, but they do have the lowest rate of injury because they know the game and they play it safe.

From my seat I can smell the desperation coming from the rats who are not good at this. Most of them will probably abandon the race at the sight of the first obstacles placed on their way. They sweat, they stop and step back, then they step forward, then back again. Not a nice view for the audience, who will throw anything at them to help them give up.

Some rats play in teams: they have someone guiding and encouraging them until they get to the finish line. But rats are not good team players, and rarely enjoy the prize, as they feel they have put less effort than the others to get it. Most of the times they take some bites and leave the place to join another rat race.

And then there are the veterans. Those that come year after year to get their share of cheese. They know their way on the track, they know what to do, they are acclaimed by the audience and usually receive a special treatment from the organisers.

Of course there are new contestants every year.

The rat race has started. Place your bets.