Those Government Boys

In bad old days of yore in certain parts of Asia, the emperor was considered a living god and for a commoner to look upon him meant death. This Draconian punishment was imposed to preserve the myth of divinity of these supposed physical incarnations of god on earth because if ordinary folk saw their rulers they would realize just like Dorothy viewing the Wizard of Oz, that they were looking upon a puny man as ordinary as any other person. So what gentle reader you ask has this to do with the price of ethanol or freedom in America for that matter. I shall explain and all will become clear. Soon our government masters may deem we may not even observe a manatee in the wild because having a mere human look at the manatee bothers the huge grazer. Of course if you are of one of the priestly caste of naturalists, biologists, environmentalists, or park rangers, your sacred gaze does not bother the frail and fragile three thousand pound manatee, and if you are of the last category, park ranger, you may bellow and blow a whistle all day ten feet from the giant mammal and it never disturbs Ms. Manatee or nature's harmony and balance. Let us say yesterday that a man and a woman in middle age walked toward Ponce de Leon Springs after paying a six dollar admission to enter a Florida state park. Let us also posit that the previous day they arrived in the nick of time to take a 10am cruise but missed the departure by moments because the gate attendants who collect the entry fee were having a bull session absolutely having to know that the cruises are scheduled to depart every day at 10 and then again at 1pm. If a touring group pulls up at 9:56, there is obvious urgency to process them at the gate or to be courteous enough to call the cruise operator and ask him to momentarily hold the boat. But you see state employees would not do that because they are deliberately contemptuous of the public they allegedly serve. So the lady collecting the money for what taxes have long since paid for ambles out of the booth at 10:01 with plodding deliberation making certain the visitors miss the real not proverbial boat. But back to ageless Ponce, let us say a few drops of rain are falling and there is distant thunder and the sixteen year old lifeguard orders swimmers out of the pool. The couple are not dressed for swimming, her bedecked in finery and carrying a purse that is easily discernible as not a cheap one and the man in clunky orthopedic thousand dollar shoes. Bright young lifeguard almost blows a gasket whistling and ordering the couple away from the Springs which is the attraction they had just paid six dollars to see. To the workers of government who are making themselves out to be our overlords and masters, start showing some degree of courtesy and common sense because though we do not physically sign your checks, we do pay your salaries.