Mile post 73

by Mike Mercer, Hamilton

Passed mile post 73 a week ago, which means I’m old enough to have seen Led Zeppelin on stage and subject to the draft before I was old enough to drink a beer, legally. The years from then until now have been an exercise in, whether you see a forest or a tree, which came first, the chicken or the egg. Personally, I don’t care. They both exist, isn’t that enough? All I wanted was to be left alone, pick up my cross and head down the road.

Funny thing happened as I traveled down that road, I came to a man from OSHA who wanted to know if that cross was safe, how much did it weigh, was I wearing steel toed boots and on and on. Further down the road I came to another man with a clipboard, he wanted to inspect the cross to make sure it was properly constructed, did it meet code. Still further down the road I came to yet another man, he wanted to know if I would like to trade that old cross for a new one. He said it was the newest model, very lightweight, made of modern materials and would be much easier to lift. I told him as I told the others, I will stick with this. 

Now if these various inspectors and do gooders would have ended it there, I would have no problem with them. However, they wanted to fine me or perhaps confiscate my cross for non-compliance, even imprison me. For those who see this as my resistance to their progressive ideas I would leave them with this final thought; at some point on this road, you will find my boot in your ass but you will never find my boot on your neck; learned that from the carpenter of this cross; PAX.