The+Great+Crew+Bears+Story

=The Genesis of Crew Bears: the Battle of Mount Kissy=



Mount Kissy was the highest point in a land called F’cd’d (pronounced “EFF-cud-duh”). It was the source of the world-famous Kissy Boxes.



As popularity of these boxes increased, many immigrants flocked to the F’cd’d area, workers to reap the benefits of Kissy Box mining. These animals tended to come in clans, but lived peacefully upon their first arrival (they had time for little but work). Most prominent of these clans were Clan Chicken & Clan Bear. Animals who were neither bear nor chicken (and there were many: pigs, cats, mice, frogs, and more) found themselves in Clan Misc. Clan leaders Chicken Run, Chicken Fingers, and the Genuine Crystal (Plastic) Crew Bear Hung On Embroidery Floss Color of Your Choice presided atop Mount Kissy and guarded F’cd’d’s national treasure: The Crystal Bear with a Heart of Gold.



With each passing day, the demand for kissy boxes grew more and more. The clan leaders knew that they were in a mode of overproduction, but could not think in the long-term; they knew only that their clans were making great profits, and spent many hours fantasizing about how they would spend their money. The miners were completely overworked, and became extremely stressed out. They started to lose perspective and heart. Clans grew wary of one another, each blaming the other for their current situation. The animosity and greed built as the workload increased until one day… Members of Clan Bear demanded that for their work, they deserved to own F’cd’d’s national treasure: The Crystal Bear with a Heart of Gold. “We outnumber the other clans, therefore we must be doing more work. And besides, we are bears, the Crystal with a Heart of Gold is a bear… it’s only right we take it.”



“No!” Replied members of Clan Chicken. “You have more bodies, but we have more bulk. We are larger than you, and ALL of us have to work; you have so many that some of you just sit around and watch the others. Look- one of your own kind even joined our clan, because he knows we get more done. WE deserve the Crystal Bear with a Heart of Gold. As we all know, Hearts of Gold embrace diversity and love every creature equally, so if you force it to stay with you it will be stifled.”



Clan Misc. knew what was about the ensue. As creatures who didn’t have a place when they first arrived, they knew the importance of diplomacy and inclusion. “FRIENDS!” they yelled, “We ALL work equally hard! None of us could do this alone! We’re under a tremendous amount of stress, and we can’t let that make us forget how we offer one another mutual support. We need to SHARE the Crystal Bear with a Heart of Gold.”



But it was too late. Clan Chicken and Clan Bear were ready for a fight. All Clan Misc. could do was stand between them in hopes of preventing a war.



Clans Chicken and Bear were so desperate for any kind of relief from being overworked that they didn’t care who stood between them and a good fight. Feathers flew, fur furrowed, there was a constant cacophony of barnyard noises. The chickens used their eggs as grenades; the bears trampled any creature under their many feet. Minutes grew into hours. Hours grew into days. Days grew into weeks. Weeks grew into months. The battle continued. Leaders Chicken Run, Chicken Fingers, and the Genuine Crystal (Plastic) Crew Bear Hung On Embroidery Floss Color of Your Choice joined in the battle, abandoning their post protecting the national treasure. At the end of that first fiscal year, in late May, all the clans and their leaders had suffered terrible losses (of feathers, fur, and dignity).



But those were not the only losses. All this conflict caused The Crystal Bear with a Heart of Gold to lose heart, and without protection, lost limbs.



It seemed that the land of F’cd’d was doomed. Until fate intervened. The Great Overseer Above sent down two of her most diligent and committed communicators: Bat/man and Jean Baxter, F’cd’d Production Manager.



“Listen up people. We know you are overworked. We know you are overstressed. We know you need some help. But you all need to take ownership of your work, and what you’ve done in this battle, before we can help you. You need to realize how important teamwork is, that you won’t be able to change your work situation without cooperation and presenting a united front. You need to start communicating about your concerns in a proactive and positive way. We’re going to teach you about RRCCFF.” The animals knew that Jean Baxter and Bat/man were right. They were all willing to sit and talk, and listen. And so the first Circle Meeting was born.



From then on, all the animals valued one another, and were able to work together to change the mode of production for kissy boxes. They learned so much from their lessons about teamwork, ownership, and RRCCFF, that they made it their mission to spread these words to others, that no other place or creature should experience such devastation. They would send themselves to places—wherever folks came together in teams to work for a common goal—as token representatives of these values. And that is how Crew Bears were born.