"What's Fair"?

So one of my students (high school junior) sidles up to my desk after school yesterday and hands me her Great Gatsby packet of work. I kindly tell her the work was due 2 weeks ago. She immediately went into her well rehearsed act. "Aw c'mon Mr. B you can just take it and give me whatever points you think is fair"! Translation: give me as many points as my cute face, cute figure, and flirtatious personality can squeeze out of you.  So, I said more firmly, "you remember two weeks ago when I told the class that Friday was the last day to turn in any Gatsby work"? "Well, Chiffon it was that Friday was the last day"! Stunned she blurted out, "that's not fair, I did the work, I just forgot to turn it in. That's NOT fair"! Then she ran out of the room in tears.  Her drama queen moment got me to thinking what is fair? I realize it was a shock and heartbreaking for Chiffon to not get what she wanted, but was it unfair?

Here's what I think is unfair:

1.I think people losing their homes over an economic collapse not of their doing is unfair.
2. I think an earthquake hitting the one country in North America that could least afford to get hit (Haiti) was unfair.
3. I think some people dying with the bird flu while many others only had mild flu symptoms is unfair.
4. I think all kids picked off by murderers and abused by parents, coaches or guardians...that's unfair.
5. I think all the hard working, honest, clean, kind, friendly, caring young people that can't afford to go to college,  live in a nice place, or eat a good meal tonight while over privileged, self indulgent ego freaks like Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, and Amy Winehouse waste money, talent and everybodies time... that's unfair.
6. I think the poor bastards buried under the soot and ash at Pompeii..well that was unfair.
7. I think the third class passengers left stranded on the Titanic after the well heeled got in lifeboats....well that was unfair. 46% of all the children died.
8. I think all the people cut down in the prime of life on Flight 93, Twin Towers, Oklahoma City Muir Building, and the Pentagon, when all they wanted was to live on September 11th well that was unfair!

I could go on but you get my point. Life is unfair and sometimes tragically so. Not accepting your late high school daily work that probably won't have any lasting effect of your grade isn't unfair. So princess, after you get done crying to mommy and daddy on your cell phone and after they tell you that they will take you to The Claim Jumper for dinner to pick up your spirits get over it. You don't have a clue about what is unfair.