Whiz Kid: Tyler Harrington

Its only after we have lost everything that we are free to do anything....From The Fight Club, Tyler Durden (played by Brad Pitt).

How does one improve upon what is clearly a very good kid? Send him to Fiji to work with people who have far less he does. 

Tyler Harrington has been winning sports awards since he started playing sports. He has won awards for sportsmanship and he has been captain of the football team. He coaches his six year old sister's lacrosse team and he also happens to be a very good student. His father, Tom Harrington, thought sending him to do volunteer work would help him appreciate how much we have here in America, but as happens with all deep thinkers, Tyler Harrington came home having learned a lot more than that.

“We built a school for the people of Nasivikoso Village,” said Tyler. “The kids used to have to cross a river to get to their other school and they would stay there for three weeks, so now they have a school in their own village. It's really small, we were building a second room.”

Tyler described the area as tropical even in the current winter, as the seasons are switched as they are in Australia. “It's near New Zealand, and they only have farming as a way of making a living, that is in the main town, in Nadi,” said Tyler. “In the city they have jobs, but pretty much everybody in the village lives off the farming. They had a general store and they get supplies that is brought in on a truck. ” 

His group of five volunteers were all able to stay in the homes of the Nasivikoso people. “We were each assigned a family to stay with and the custom is, you give them a gift, and they treat you like family.”

Tyler had to adjust to local customs. “They wear a shirt and a sulu, which is like a skirt, and you keep your knees and shoulders covered.” 

“Every night, they scoop a drink called kava, which is ceremonial. You drink it every night and it helps you sleep better. It doesn't taste great, it is made from roots of the kava plant, and it is very calming. But I think the most calming part about it is the mental part of getting together and drinking it.”

 As seen in Tyler's photos, the people he stayed with lived a life bereft of some of the most basic home furnishings by US standards.  “They don't have a lot, they don't have the things we have. They took baths in the river, and it made you thankful for what we have here.” 

While Tyler learned to be grateful for some of the things he had back home, he also learned he did not need as much as people in the US think we do.  “They have no real concept of money, like, they do for going shopping, but they don't worry about money on a day to day basis. Everybody helps each other out in the village. Even if people don't work, they are taken care of. The farmers provide food for the village, and you can't go out for a walk in the village without someone asking you to come in for a cup of tea. They laugh a lot, they are just naturally happy people. They don't have the worries we have here.”

 When asked if he had suffered culture shock when he returned, he said, “Everybody here talks about money. They were happy without all of the stuff we have. I missed my iPod though. I like music, but I didn't miss the TV or the computer at all. They are better that us in a way because they are not attached to material goods, but they could learn from us easier ways to survive.” 

While considering if there were ways each culture could benefit the other, Tyler said, “Mixing up cultures is always good. In America, I was not free to do anything until I saw people who have nothing. Now that I have seen, I can excel. You have to start at the bottom.”

 Did he think this experience might change his life in some way? With a wry smile, Tyler said, “It already has.”

 Rather than give his own statement about how his philosophies have changed, Tyler recommends that everyone see The Fight Club. “There is a lot in there that would be good for Americans to know.”

 Here is his favorite quote: “I see all this potential, and I see squandering...an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables, slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate to buy sh.. we don't need. We're in the middle of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war, our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we will not. And we're slowly learning that fact.”