The Crayon Box Illusion

Crayon boxes were a major source of contention back in my elementary school years. There was a wide range of crayon ownership and a class system of lords and peons seemed to develop naturally because of it. At the bottom of the hierarchy were the beggars that had to borrow crayons from the class. It was hard to stoop lower than this, and was also extremely humiliating to do so. Next up are the 6 crayon box people. These people were often too shy to ask for other crayons out of shame for having only six crayons of their own. This level is analogous to that of farmers. After that came those (including myself) with the 12 crayon kit. This was the middle class where most of the students resided. Next up were the 24 crayon users, which is where the upper class began. A couple kids always had the next step up, which was the 64 crayon box. These boxes demanded massive amounts of respect. At the very top of the monarchy was the King (or queen). The one kid that had the box with over 100 crayons. No matter how uncool this kid was, during coloring time they were surrounded instantly like a foot placed in a hill of fire ants. Colors like Fuzzy Wuzzy Brown, Macaroni and Cheese, and Inch Worm were all exclusively available from this massive box. The one thing that continued to puzzle me was the quality produced by each social/economic tier. There seemed to be no correlation between the art quality, and the quantity of crayons available to that person. This goes to show that even with limited tools we should try our best because often times it will be far better than we ever could have imagined.