Lassie---Come Home!!

The farmer arrives on the scene in time to see that one of his sheep is down and a blood stained collie is running away from it! Meanwhile, back at the farm, Lassie arrives covered in blood and cowering as if she's in trouble. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

We're back-The farmer has rounded up the sheriff and they descend on the farm to find Mom & Timmy trying to clean the offending stain off Lassie's coat. The farmer immediately points an accusing finger and demands that the sheriff dispatch her at once! Dad emerges from the barn to see what the commotion is all about and is told the damning tale! He suggests and the sheriff agrees to pen the dog up until the mystery is solved. the farmer doesn't like it, but has to abide by the sheriff's decision for now. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

We're back again-The farmer goes to check on his other sheep, while Dad & the sheriff go back to the scene of the crime to look for clues as to what may have happened. Meanwhile Timmy is agonizing over the delima while Lassie is getting more agitated by the moment. Unable to cope with her discomfort, Timmy opens the gate and Lassie bowls him over and heads lickety/split for the farmers place. Timmy yells for Mom and they take of in hot pursuit of her! (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

We're back yet again-The farmer looks out from his barn and sees Lassie bounding across his property heading straight for the sheep pasture. He grabs his rifle and takes off after her certain that she has come back for more killing. Meanwhile, Dad & the sheriff have discoverd another set of dog tracks that are not Lassie's and begin to follow them. By now the farmer has caught up with Lassie and has her in his sights at close range. She barks, growls and leaps around him just in time to intercept another dog which is sneaking up from behind to attack the farmer! Just then Timmy, Mom, Dad, & the sheriff arrive on the scene, the sheriff dispatches the stray dog, Timmy collects Lassie and the farmer comes to the realization that his bacon has just been saved by the very animal he was so bent on destroying. Handshakes, hugs,& kisses all around as Timmy & Lassie take a tumble in the grass. (WE FADE TO CREDITS)

First of all, my apologies if I've infringed on any copyrights in the above. It was unintentional and I did so only to illustrate a point.

I am not a graduate of any psychology, philosophy, or sociology schools or universities. As a matter of fact, I've never taken a class on any of the aforementioned fields. I am however a product of my environment. My formative years as a lad were filled with Lassie & Timmy. All their dilemas were solved, start to finish in about 23 minutes of air time. (I guessed at the length of the commercial breaks)

From my teenage years to adulthood I was been bombarded, as we all were, with the expectation of just in time; I want My way it right now! The older we got, the faster we wanted action and solution. Somewhere along life's long, slow road, we came to accept Lassie as reality. To be fair Mickey D's, Burger Chef, Walmart, and Micrsoft have done their fair share to support this notion.

Fast forward to the 21st century, and we find ourselves being impatient with those people who really are there that really do want to help, serve and protect us. We expect them to be there to put out the fire before it starts, catch the bad guy before he appears, have the ambulance on scene prior to our heart attack beginning, and enforce codes that they are unaware of being broken, with no budget, limited staff, & outdated equipment. All the while, we envy and berate them for their take home vehicles, their salarys, and their overtime. Furthermore we refuse to gather & report the information they beg us for because it is not our job, it's theirs. Finally, we decide to just give up and bitch!

If I offend anyone here I'm kinda, sorta sorry about that. If I appear frustrated by the whole issue you would be correct. Am I gonna go away and quit banging on this drum? Probably not, save to re-energize my battery with a progressive pint or two or three from time to time.

We're gonna continue to gather information and politely relay it to those who can and in most cases will try to resolve the issue. We're gonna continue to aggravate those who have the responsiblity and position of authority to resolve the issues but refuse to act, for whatever reason. And finally, We're gonna continue to hound those who still think Lassie is for real and everything can be solved & absolved in 30 minutes minus commercials without them having to hit the preprogrammed fast dial button of their cellphone.

And just who do I think I am you ask? Just an ole farm boy who grew up choosing to believe the American dream. That it doesn't get any better than this and that all things are possible with focused, consistent, persistence used as the driving force. I still choose to believe that there are others likeminded in our midst.

So something tells me I'm gonna be drinking a lot of those progressive pints! And who knows, maybe one day we will learn the art of pushing a logchain uphill. Won't that be a kick in the pants?