Thump, Thump!

It’s a familiar sound to all of us these days; the echoing noise of someone being thrown under the bus. Personal responsibility and honor have been replaced by the idle toss.

Recently, I had two encounters under the wheels. The first was here in Italy where I restored a monument built to honor the soldiers who had died in two world wars. I spent roughly eight or nine hundred dollars of my own money to complete this volunteer project only to find that people here actually think that I took some cash under the table from persons unknown in order to complete the work. Thump, thump! Apparently volunteer work is an unknown quantity locally.

My other thumping is even more recent. In my native USA, at the urging of local civic leaders, I located, documented and photographed an unknown slave cemetery near our home. It was a large effort on my part that was rewarded with that familiar sound when the bureaucrats arrived: thump, thump! I found myself under those damn wheels again. It seems you have to be one of the good ‘ole boys to have any credibility hereabouts. It turns out that in doing a “good thing” I had indeed done a “bad thing.”

I have done volunteer work for many decades but hell, here comes another bus. I think this time I will just step aside!

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