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There came a time when passing through the woods the not so young stranger felt a pang of hunger. Fortunate it was that in a corpse of trees a small house lay. Twas the home of an industrious family that had not the time to spend walking through the woods as both parents had to work to make ends meet.
Our traveler gave a sharp rap on the door and when it went unanswered, he pushed it open. Three chairs sat in front of the television, and as it was midday our visitor tuned in to acquaint himself with world events. He attempted to force his overweight body into the small chair, but, alas it collapsed. Trying the largest chair he found it too hard to move so he tried the mid-sized chair and found it just right. With only a few minutes of quick study he now understood all there was to know of national and international events. Oh how he wished there was someone here. Using well practiced debating techniques he could swiftly and convincingly, using just the right balance of fear and pandering, bring them to his side. With his mind now full of "facts" gleaned from the TV, he addressed himself to the first problem; he was hungry.
Dame Fortunate smiled on our visitor. There in the dining room of this modest home he spied the table set for three. And, on the table the soup for the noon meal had previously been placed. Taking a spoon from the table he tasted the first bowl and found it too cold, but he had half the bowl nevertheless. Moving to the head of the table, he sampled that soup as well and found it too hot, but making the supreme sacrifice he ate most of it. The last bowl of soup was now before him and he ate it all! Ah, how good life is he thought and so perhaps I should take a nap before continuing my journey through the forest looking for endangered species and recording the dastardly acts of man.
This simple cottage had only one bedroom and therein was placed three beds. That nearest the door was found to be too soft. So, he tried the largest one but he proclaimed it too hard which brought him to the mid-sized bed which he found just right and without removing his clothes (this was not a story written for Hollywood), he climbed under the covers and fell fast asleep.
Now our story takes a horrible twist. The three bears who loved and lived in this home returned. At the entrance, Papa Bear noted that someone had broken down his door. What to do? They entered cautiously because they lived in a high crime area. Since hunters had been required to give up their guns, it seemed that only criminals had guns.
Baby Bear cried, "Someone's been sitting in my chair and it's broken!" Papa Bear noted that his chair had been fussed with also since someone had tried to drag it in front of the TV. And, Mama Bear said, "They've been sitting in my chair. Look at the dirt they tracked in and soiled my chair and carpet." But there was more.
Baby Bear looked into the dining room and saw that his soup spoon was missing. He said, "Someone ate some of my soup." Papa Bear said, "Mine too. He ate most of it." And Mama Bear said, "You think that's bad, he ate all of mine!"
"Hush," said Mama Bear. I think I heard a noise. And they listened, and from the bedroom came the sound of someone talking in his sleep. The person unknown, was explaining how he was going to save social security. He was pointing out that seniors would get a three and half percent increase next year which was almost twenty-five dollars per month! This was to be given to them by the Government. He mumbled something about those workers who in making about seventy thousand dollars a year, will find their maximum deduction for social security increased. These middle class workers and their employers, will each be paying about one hundred dollars more into the system. He said, "Eureka! That's the way to fix the system raise taxes!"
The three bears peeked into the room. Baby Bear said, "Someone's been sleeping in my bed!" Papa Bear said, "Someone's been sleeping in my bed!" Mama Bear said, "Someone's been sleeping in my bed. And there he is!" This awoke the intruder who seeing that crafting an explanation for these simple folks was not going to work, jumped out the window and was last seen running through the woods.
Baby Bear said, "He really didn't have any respect for us younger bears; he broke what didn't need fixing, took a percentage of everything we had and then mussed up the bed that I have got to lie in." Papa Bear said, "He thinks he's an alpha male because he goes about forcing his way, ignoring rules and then when he screws something up, just goes on as if it's all right." Mama Bear, as usual had the last word, "Poor thing, doesn't have a clue. He's been wandering through the forest in Washington so long that he thinks that's how real people live. He really doesn't have a home. Just think, when Joe, and Dick and George went home to get ready for their labors, that poor soul didn't go back to Washington, the only home he has known. No. He went to a resort town where nobody knew him. How sad."
With that, she cleaned up the mess that had been left behind. Papa Bear fixed Baby Bear's chair, since they couldn't afford to buy a new one. And, Baby Bear took his books and went hard to work on his lessons because he knew his parents were dependent on him for everyone's future.
It's just a fable. Or, is it?
joew
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