THE SCHOOLYARD

There once was a boy who lived in a small town with his family.  His father  ruled over the household as a tyrant, and all who lived there feared him.  The father died, which left the eldest son as the “man of the house.” Having only the example of the father to mold his principles, the son, too, became a tyrant.  Soon, the household feared him as they had feared his father.
The boy’s tyrannical approach carried over outside the house to every aspect of  his life. In school, he was feared in the schoolyard by the other children.  His teachers thought him to be an exceptional student and placed him in leadership roles whenever the opportunity arose.  To the administration, his ideas were well thought out and seemed to have the good of the school at their base.  To the students, they knew it was a matter of time before he had complete control of the school and all would have to do what he said or suffer the consequences.
Soon, some of  the other children began to rebel against the boy because of the his “rule” over them. One by one they were expelled from school.  They decided to enlist the help of another boy who had a great deal of influence in another schoolyard.  The other boy kept promising that he would help them, but nothing was ever done.  The expelled children got some other friends from a rival school to come to their schoolyard when they knew that the boy would be outside.  A fight began, and soon, the schoolyard was filled with children pushing and shoving each other and bickering back and forth. 
Some of the children thought the boy was right and some thought he was wrong.  Some of the other children did not want to get involved in the dispute and left the schoolyard to find another place to play.
The other schoolyards were filling up with children who just wanted to play in peace, while the boy, along with his friends, fought against the expelled and those who had come to help them.  The administration took no action to stop the dispute because the boy had convinced them that getting rid of the other children would be the only way to make the school better. 
Those who were expelled were loyal to the school and did not want to go to any other school.  Those who were loyal to the boy were also loyal to the school, but felt that the boy had good ideas and wanted the changes the boy had outlined.  So the conflict raged on, not going unnoticed by the other boy that the expelled children had tried to enlist to help them. The other boy told the expelled that as long as the fight was being fought with fists and rocks, he would not get involved.  The other boy knew that the boy had guns at his disposal and said,  “As long as the boy never uses the guns, I will have to stay out of the fight.  But, the minute the boy brings out the guns, my friends and I will get ours out, and there’s going to be a showdown.”
When the boy realized that the expelled were gaining ground, as expected, he brought out the guns.  Many of the expelled and their helpers were gunned down in the battle that ensued.   There was no way that the expelled could fight against the weapons used by the boy. The other boy was outraged.  He began calling on his friends at other schools to stand up against the boy, but they were unwilling to help him.  “Fine,” said the other boy, “I’ll go against the boy with my own guns.”  The other boy started gathering his friends from his own school to go into battle against the boy, but even they were reluctant to get involved. 
“Our school has helped other schools in the past and we end up coming out looking like the bad guy,” his friends told him. The other boy insisted that he needed to help the expelled, but his friends kept telling him that the expelled had too many helpers who didn’t like the other boy’s school and, if they got involved, it would not come out good for them no matter who won the battle. The other boy knew the risks but kept insisting that they get involved.
The boy, though fully engaged in a battle, knew that if the other boy got involved, his cause would be lost.  He decided to tell everyone that he would not use guns again, and, if the administration could get into the schoolyard to take the guns, they could have them.  The other boy thought this was a grand gesture on the part of the boy and decided to step back and let the administration handle it from there.
No one really knew where all of the boy’s guns were hidden.  The boy knew that when the administration came to take the guns, the expelled might try to steal them and use them against him, so he began hiding the guns in new locations so the administration would not find all of them. The expelled were too busy fighting against the boy to worry about what the boy was moving, and the other boy was looking the other way while the administration was preparing to go in after the guns.
Meanwhile, the other boy was sending over a load of rocks to the expelled to help fight against the boy and his friends.*****UPDATED 5/21/2015*****
 The other boy knew that the expelled would be working hard to take control of their part of the schoolyard and, eventually, take over not only their schoolyard but the surrounding schoolyards but he wanted to look like he was doing something to help out.
Later, the expelled became the bullies of all the surrounding schoolyards but the other boy chose to ignore them while they imposed their rules on everyone else. Now the expelled bullies are looking to erase the other boy's school from history along with anyone who stands in their way. The other boy just says they are bullies, and bullies never really win.       
Why can’t these children learn to play together?
© MC Andrews, 2013.                                          

If It Ain't Fixed Don't Break It

There are some things that are so befuddled that they need to be tossed out and started over. And some things are better left alone.
    You can rest assured that if government (or management) is involved, it will take a committee to research and develop a strategy to better understand the problem, and devise a solution which will best assist the committee in formulating a definitive guideline to recognize the situation when it arises. Once the situation is recognized,  according to the guidelines set forth by the committee, action is then taken, in earnest, to examine the root cause and assign responsibility for the situation to those least likely be affected by the outcome. 
    After responsibility is assigned, it is then the duty of the committee to distance themselves from the responsible party/ parties and formulate a plan to control any damage which may have occurred. After damage is assessed, responsibility is assigned,  and damage control is implemented, the committee will then study the effects of the problem on all disinterested parties. 
    Then, and only then, based on all of the facts gathered thus far, will the committee devise a solution which has the least amount of positive impact on the greatest percent of the population, or the greatest amount of negative impact on the least percent of the population, whichever is more beneficial to the committee at the time.  At that time, another committee will begin to research and develop a strategy to better understand the effects of the solution, and develop a guideline to recognize any negative impact which the solution may have created.
© MC Andrews, 2013.

TAX CODE

With the nation’s Independence Day celebration coming up, it is time to make a few changes which would streamline our government.  One such change is the tax code.  For years our leaders have been squabbling over taxes.  Where to get tax money, how to spend tax money, who to tax and how much.  The government has been taxing  citizens and corporations based on income and revenue generated, then taxing again on spending. Their (government) spending is based on wants instead of needs.  The system outlined in the following could solve this problem.

The first problem to tackle is spending. Like any grade school student should learn about a pie chart, you only have one pie. The number of pieces you cut that pie into doesn’t matter as long as you don’t try to take more pieces out of the pie than exist. Some pieces may only be slivers but they are still in the same pie.  Once a slice is eaten, you can’t borrow from another slice, you can’t borrow from a future pie that might be made, it is just gone.  Therefore, when you’re slicing the pie, be very careful to realize that another pie wont be made until the following year. 
Next year’s pie may be bigger or smaller and if adjustments need to be made to the size of the slices, they need to be decided on at least two months before the next pie is presented for slicing.  With all of the technology we have today, it should be fairly easy to estimate the size of the pie within that time frame.  Only slight tweaking to the allocations can be made once the pie is presented and the exact size is known.  Again, you only get one pie a year. When each department gets their slice of the pie, it becomes their personal pie to slice and they, too, only get one pie.
 If the system is implemented when a deficit exists, the deficit will be allocated a slice and all slices will be adjusted accordingly over a reasonable period of time until the deficit is paid.  If there is a surplus, this is put into the next year’s pie and allocated accordingly at that time. If any department starts with a deficit or a surplus, they too will follow this procedure.  The object here is balance.  Deficit is bad.  Surplus is great. Spend only what you have, save when you can, owe nothing.  Credit is not an option.

The second problem is fair taxation.  Whether it is corporate verses personal income tax, rich verses poor, or anything in between, everyone should pay their fair share. But how does one decide what is fair.  This should solve the problem of fairness:
Do away with corporate and individual income tax and impose a one cent per roll tax on toilet paper and paper towels as well as one cent per box on facial tissue.  This is something everyone uses, it is a renewable, recyclable resource (with the exception of toilet paper) and is something that is most generally wasted.
There would be no corporate tax cuts or loopholes for the rich.  If you use it you pay for it.  If you have a need for more and feel that the tax is an imposition because of a physical ailment, just consider the fact that you are doing your part and illness falls on the rich and the poor alike. 
More people would have to consider the foods they eat to achieve a healthy balance to cut down on their tax bills. Health conscious and fastidiously conservative people would inevitably pay less in taxes, but would cost the rest of the people less in the long run due to lower health care bills.
Of course, there are alternatives to all of the paper products mentioned.  One could use handkerchiefs instead of tissues, dish towels and kitchen towels instead of paper towels and whatever a person may try to use to substitute for toilet paper.  This may be looked on by some as rebellion, but in the paper society, this would only be extreme conservation of natural resources.  If you are willing to resort to those measures to avoid taxes then you deserve some recognition for your efforts.
As ridiculous as it may seem, stiff penalties would need to be imposed for anyone caught stealing any of these products from other homes or businesses.  A $1000.00 fine and community service should suffice. There may be a need to create a special task force to monitor such activities nationwide as theft rings may begin to operate and black marketeers begin to emerge.  One suggested name for such a task force: Public Oversight Of  Paper  or P.O.O.P. for short.
The paper tax would not only help to reduce the ever increasing obesity problem which creates a multiplicity of healthcare issues due to poor diet, but could also reduce needless waste in our landfills.  We have become a throw-away society. We use it up and throw it away because we know there will always be more. Not only could we reduce the waste in our landfills and improve the health of the nation, but, if balance is applied to diet and to government spending alike, we could wipe out the deficit in no time.

© MC Andrews, 2013.

THE INTERVIEW

James sat upright in the chair across the desk from the interviewer.  He was sure that he was ready for the interview in his pressed black pants, white shirt neatly tucked, and blue printed tie held back by a small gold chain. He had gone over the possible interview questions in his mind and felt that he was as prepared to expound on his attributes with the greatest of ease.
"Do you have a copy of your resume?" asked the interviewer.  James had emailed his resume to answer the advertisement and thought that this was the reason why he was asked to come in for an interview.  Nevertheless, he handed a copy of his resume to the interviewer and waited patiently as this ill prepared paper pusher perused his resume, comparing it to the six page application which James had spent his first twenty minutes filling out in another room while the interviewer finished his coffee. 
The interviewer looked up at James, sat back in his chair and asked, "Why are you applying for this position?" 
"Moron. I was bored and wanted to waste a day feeling nervous and trying to impress someone I don't know," thought James.
"I have extensive education and experience in this field and felt that I could contribute to the company," he replied.
"Tell me about a situation where you were asked to go against your principles." 
"This was unexpected.  What are they going to expect me to do for them?"
"I can't think of a situation at this time where that would have come up in any of my previous jobs," he replied.
"If I spoke to your last supervisor, what would he say positive and negative about you?"
"How do I know what's in his head? Or anyone's head for that matter?"
"He would say that I was dependable and trustworthy, but I was tenacious to a fault when trying to accomplish the goals set for me," James replied confidently.
"If you could be any animal, what kind of animal would you be and why?"
James thought through a long pause.  I know this is a psychological question, but c'mon, lets get serious about this.  Oh, what the heck. Just give him something to talk about. "A sloth," he replied.  "Because he is what he is and no one expects anything more from him."
"What is your ideal job?
"I'd like to come in at eleven, take an hour off for lunch, and get off at noon.  I'd like a salary at that job of a hundred thousand a year with full paid benefits, profit sharing and stock options."
"We will be interviewing other applicants over the next several days and if we feel that you would be a good fit for us we will be contacting you."  The interviewer stretched out his hand for a farewell handshake.
"Why not just be honest," said James.  "If you're not planning to call me, just say so.  I am here because I am wanting to work for this company.  If I wasn't interested I wouldn't have bothered to send you a resume in the first place.   I don't want to sit around waiting for phone calls and check my email several times a day for several days in a row if there's no reason to expect to hear from you.  I can just as easily move on to another company who needs an employee like me."
"We'll let you know," said the interviewer.  James shook his hand and turned to leave the office, relieved and somewhat vindicated.

© MC Andrews, 2013.