Saving Starfishes

Some starfishes chose and refuse to budge.

This year I've got 37 starfishes. A good one third of them are in the waters. For another third of them, I'm in the midst of pushing them towards the water. However the last third of them seems to have other ideas. They either refuse to budge or are crawling further up inland.

It doesn't help that even after speaking with the parents, they were either indifferent or they stubbornly defend their precious darlings. Nothing new, but when there are just too many of these cases, it makes you wonder whether is it worth the mental effort to pluck them up and throwing them back into the sea. Many experienced colleagues advised me to save only those that can be saved. For kids with such parents, hands off them before getting our hands cut.

On one hand I agree with them, but on the other hand I don't want to give up just yet (even though sad to say, I've officially given up on one hardcore bugger). Perhaps its out of defending my own selfish pride and authority that I want to thumb and nail these fellas hard for all to see, but everyday seems like a losing battle. It is also not fair to the rest that I expend so much energy on these fellas and spend little energy on those who really wanted to excel.

Just how many starfishes have you given up?