Push - Pull

It seems a tugboat has a choice When dealing with a barge – To push it or to pull it And I wonder who’s in charge Of making that decision Or what factors are in play. Is pushing better sometimes? I don’t know enough to say. Most often when I see a tug It’s chugging right behind The barge or boat it’s pushing And it doesn’t seem to mind. Yet earlier today I saw A tugboat in the lead, Pulling piles of huge containers, An accomplishment, indeed. For that tug was proudly doing Lots of tugging, like its name. When it pushes from behind, to me, It isn’t quite the same.