Wrong Question!!!

I passed the Guilford County Courthouse as I drove through downtown Greensboro the other morning and saw a herd of people lined up to go through the security checkpoint and gain access to their courthouse. Why do citizens tolerate this treatment from their government? Let's work through this logically. First we pay taxes to build the courthouse and staff it. Then, our elected officials decide that we should be searched before being allowed into our courthouse. Did anyone check with the voters before implementing this policy?? Of course not, they do what they want. I'm thinking that they failed the "democracy" part of Civics class.

I complained to a past county manager a few years ago about the search policy. He told me that the judges wanted the searches for "security purposes". I guess it hasn't dawned on judges that they are letting criminals have a free run in our society. Maybe if they were putting a few more criminals to work making license plates, we could walk the streets a little more safely.

After a few more stories about security issues from the manager, I explained my point of view to him. I explained that the whole security and search issue was a result of bad information. It is because, as Roger Von Oech likes to say, our officials are "asking the wrong question". They are sitting in the courthouse asking, "How do we keep those people from coming down here and hurting us?". What they should be asking is "What are we doing here that is pissing people off so badly that they want to come down here and hurt us?" It has been a few years, no answer from the county yet.

Wuff!! Wuff!! Happy Birthday Mom!!!

I was at Target this morning picking up a few items and thought that I would go ahead and get my mother a birthday card. It's pretty early for me to do this. I mean, today is the 14th and her birthday is the 15th. If she gets the card before March, she will be surprised. I digress, back to Target and my shopping. As I searched the card racks for the appropriate card, I found an incredible card. Under the category "Mother from Dog", there was a card. I couldn't believe it! Of course, I can't decide which was more shocking, a marker with "To Mother from Dog" or the fact that there was actually a card in the slot.

Buy a card for your mom from the dog? Hell, my mother's shocked when her sons send cards. A card from the dog could send her to the cardiac unit.

How do you sign the card? Do you forge the dog's name? Do you have him put his paw on a stamp pad and then stamp the card? Do you cram a pen into his paw and then move his paw to write his name? What if you just duct tape the pen into the dog's paw and let him freehand (or freepaw) his signature? I guess that rubbing his butt on the card and waiting for Mom to sniff it is out of the question. Does it really matter if the dog signs it?

If any of these problems bother you, next fall when you order the dog's Christmas cards, just have his name engraved on them.

I think that I will make a birthday card for Mom and see if I can get the goat to sign it. Wait!! Let me first call American Greetings and see if they have a card labeled "To Mother from Goat". That noise you hear is P.T. "A sucker born every minute" Barnum laughing from his grave.