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"THE FINE PRINT"

The musings of Michael Schrader

       SLAP ON THE HEAD PAINFUL BUT SOMETIMES NECESSARY
(Written in 1994; previously unpublished. Posted in toto with Preface and Epilogue 16 July 2001)

PREFACE -- This column was the follow-up to the “Tradition and Progress” column (#8). I received numerous negative comments about that column (one from my alderman, David Holman), and had been accused of making it all up, of “spewing venom”, of being disgruntled and bitter, ad nauseum. This column, then, was my answer.
       Unfortunately, the editor, having taken a lot of heat for publishing Column #8 to begin with, “decided” to let the tempest calm down, and refused to publish my follow-up. So, to the readers, I was forever portrayed as some mean and venomous malcontent, who would sink to any depth to trash Farmington. From this point forward, fewer of my columns saw the light of print.

       Rush Limbaugh, like it or not, has reinvigorated the political process. Like it or not, his blunt style causes strong emotion, either undying loyalty or undying loathing. If nothing else, his bombast causes his listeners to think. Isn't that what it is all about?
       I received some pretty negative feedback about my recent tongue-in-cheek column about Farmington being the city of Tradition & Progress. Good. Then I caught your attention and made you think, which is what I wanted to do.
       For those who think I am disgruntled or bitter or whatever, I am not. I am, for the most part, happy. Very few things tick me off. However, I do get ticked when we collectively pat ourselves on the back and tell ourselves how great we are and how wonderful everything is. The truth is, reality bites. Life is not always wonderful. We are not always great. We all have flaws we don't recognize in ourselves.
       I am the first to admit I am not perfect. However, I am so used to my flaws that I fail to see them. Many times, I've had to be verbally knocked upside the head to see them. I don't mind being verbally knocked upside the head, however. I'd much rather have someone be perfectly honest and blunt than lie to try and spare my feelings. As long as I know where someone is coming from I can deal with them. I have known many people who have disliked me and made it known to me that they disliked me. Fine. At least I didn't pretend to think they liked me and wanted to be all chummy because they didn't. I can live with it. Besides, I don't expect every person to like me, because it will never happen.
       I do not write this column to win a popularity contest. If that were the case, I'm not very successful. I do write this column to make people think. From the reactions I have heard and read, I think I am achieving this goal.
       I also write this column to serve as a conduit for other points-of-view. Many of the opinions I express are not necessarily my own, but rather a compilation of opinions from various people I have met and talked to. If you think I would just "spew venom" for kicks and grins and for my own ego, you're wrong. That would be totally irresponsible as well as totally stupid, neither of which I am.
       With regards to the Tradition Inn column, all of the "venom" was based on facts. Fact 1. I was told to my face by a local citizen that I had absolutely no right to run for office because I had not lived in the county for forty years. Fact 2. There are no women on the City Council. There are also no women on the County Commission. I have also had someone tell me to my face that I am doing the right thing by making my wife stay at home because that is where a woman belongs. (By the way, I do not force my wife to do anything she doesn't want to do.) Fact 3. The contractor who built my house lied to the city about the presence of utilities to my house. As it turns out, there were none, and I had to pay for installation of the utilities and the road (and I still have to maintain the road). While I am out quite a bit of money, the contractor skipped town, and nothing was done. The reaction of the City Council to the situation? It's not our problem. You, Mr. Schrader, have to pay the consequences because we failed to fulfill our governmental obligations.
        I had people dumping trash around my house. I called up both of my alderman, one of whom is David Holman, who wrote about his dedication to serving the needs of the city. I do not believe illegal dumps are in the best interests of the city. Yet Mr. Holman would not even return my phone calls. Some service and dedication.
       The tragedy is, I know of other people with similar stories. The problems are real. They exist. They are not just figments of a warped mind. But yet we stick our heads in the sand. We injure the messenger, and never hear the message. Sad.

EPILOGUE -- The “head-in-the-sand” syndrome is not just endemic to Farmington. I have seen similar attitudes in Arkansas and Texas. In Arkansas, many communities tout their “Christianess” manifested in dryness, as alcohol is sinful and immoral. Yet, it are these moral “Christians” who most frequently patronize the liquor stores located literally out in the middle of nowhere at the “wet-dry” boundary line. We should ask ourselves why it is that these high school massacres are occurring in predominately white schools in the suburban, exurban, and rural areas of the country, and why it is that after each and every one, there is the same reaction-- “This is a good Christian community, and we are shocked that anything like this would ever happen here.” Head-in-the-sand syndrome.
      There is good and bad in every community. The only way that we can keep the bad from conquering the good is to acknowledge its existence and counter it. If we refuse to acknowledge that the bad even exists, then the bad will defeat the good, because the good will be unprepared.