Maybe thirty years ago, I went to visit my sister for a few days. She lived, at the time, on Martha’s Vineyard. Martha’s Vineyard, for those who aren’t familiar with it, is an island about six miles off the coast of Cape Cod, in Massachusetts. There a six towns on Martha’s Vineyard, which tells you it is not a tiny island. In the summertime the rich and famous vacation there. Presidents, such as Bill Clinton and Barack Obama have vacationed there. James and Livingston Taylor, Carole King, and Carly Simon have places on Martha’s Vineyard. I mention this only as an interesting fact about the island.
Down the center of the island runs a road, which runs basically from one end to the other. Most of the houses and farmhouses, sit back from the road, in relative seclusion behind trees and bushes. These trees and bushes, and in some spots forests, come right up close to the road. Since this was my family’s first visit to the island, my sister and her husband were showing us around. Thus it was that we were traveling down this central road, when suddenly, from out of the bushes by the side of the road, a deer ran out in front of us. My sister, who was driving, had no chance to stop, unfortunately, and the deer was hit. My sister, I’ll call her Janet, immediately stop the car on the side of the road, and her husband, who I will call Dave, and I went to check on the deer, while Janet called the police, to notify them of the accident. Dave and I could hear the deer thrashing around in the bushes and knew it was seriously hurt. We moved close enough to get a good look at the deer, and saw both hind legs were twisted into unnatural positions. They were both shattered. If either of us had had a gun with us, we would have immediately shot the poor, suffering deer, to put it out of its suffering, but we were unarmed.
A police cruiser drove up behind Janet’s car in short order. The Patrolman climbed out of his cruiser and we called him over to where the deer was thrashing about. Dave suggested the Patrolman, who had his service revolver strapped on his side, shoot the suffering deer. The Patrolman told us he was not authorized to shoot the deer, that it was the duty of the Animal Control Officer to make the decision. He called the situation in on his radio and requested the Animal Control Officer to be brought to the scene.
My poor sister was in tears. She loved animals of all kinds and was deeply saddened she had hurt the deer. She also was deeply upset to think no one was doing anything to put the deer out of its misery. Dave and I were frustrated, also. We could hear and see the struggles of the deer. It was heart-rending, seeing the pain the deer was suffering.
A neighbor, who was on his way home, saw the cruiser stopped and pulled his truck over, having noticed the three of us at the edge of the road, peering into the bushes.
“What is happening?” He asked us.
We told him of the car hitting the deer, and he went closer to the deer to have a look.
“I’ll go home and get my rifle. That deer needs to be put out of its misery.” He offered.
“You can’t do that. The Animal Control Officer has been called.” The patrolman said. “If you shoot the deer, I’ll have to arrest you for poaching.”
“You’ll let that deer suffer?” The neighbor asked.
“I’m just doing my job. Those are my orders, to wait for the Animal Control Officer.” He replied.
We couldn’t believe what was happening. We ended up waiting for almost a half an hour for the Animal Control Officer to show up, all the while hearing the thrashing of the deer. It was pitiful, really, that this officer hadn’t the courage to do the right thing.
Finally, the Patrolman received a radio call telling him the Animal Control Officer, was not on the Island. He would have to deal with the situation himself. The Patrolman went to his cruiser and took his shotgun out of the trunk, loaded it and approached the deer. One shot from his shaking hands, only wounded the animal even more. A second shot, from closer range still did not kill the deer. It took a third shot to end the animal’s suffering.
I have never forgotten that day. To me, it was a blatant example of the idiocy of non-flexible rules and the ridiculousness of the “Chain of command”. The deer had to suffer because of stupid rules set down by politicians and bureaucrats. Rules, rules, rules. We are governed by rules, not common decency and compassion. We have lost our way, my friends. “I am only doing my job.” or “I’m just following orders.” are the responses of unthinking, unfeeling zombies, who refuse to think for themselves, and to react for themselves. This is not progress. Yes, we like to think we are an advanced, cultured society, but we have become a nation of zombies, moving through our lives following rules, laws, and the so-called conventions of Society, never bothering to think for ourselves. Never to allow our hearts, and our own thoughts to guide us, is to be a zombie.
Take a look at what is happening in the world today. Are the events, such as the Iraq war, the Afghanistan war, the Libyan war, the so-called Democracy movements in the Middle East, the thefts of trillions of dollars by the Big Banks with the aid of the Federal Reserve, the brutality of the police against the Occupy Wall Street protesters across the Country, the persecution of those who desire raw milk, or alternative medications, are all these actions the result of compassion and decency? Or they the actions of zombies, who are merely following orders? It is for you to decide. I merely ask that you decide from within yourself, not merely to respond with learned behavior thrust upon you without compassion by the Authorities, the “correct’ institutions, and the media. In other words, think for yourself.
Shorty Dawkins
Down the center of the island runs a road, which runs basically from one end to the other. Most of the houses and farmhouses, sit back from the road, in relative seclusion behind trees and bushes. These trees and bushes, and in some spots forests, come right up close to the road. Since this was my family’s first visit to the island, my sister and her husband were showing us around. Thus it was that we were traveling down this central road, when suddenly, from out of the bushes by the side of the road, a deer ran out in front of us. My sister, who was driving, had no chance to stop, unfortunately, and the deer was hit. My sister, I’ll call her Janet, immediately stop the car on the side of the road, and her husband, who I will call Dave, and I went to check on the deer, while Janet called the police, to notify them of the accident. Dave and I could hear the deer thrashing around in the bushes and knew it was seriously hurt. We moved close enough to get a good look at the deer, and saw both hind legs were twisted into unnatural positions. They were both shattered. If either of us had had a gun with us, we would have immediately shot the poor, suffering deer, to put it out of its suffering, but we were unarmed.
A police cruiser drove up behind Janet’s car in short order. The Patrolman climbed out of his cruiser and we called him over to where the deer was thrashing about. Dave suggested the Patrolman, who had his service revolver strapped on his side, shoot the suffering deer. The Patrolman told us he was not authorized to shoot the deer, that it was the duty of the Animal Control Officer to make the decision. He called the situation in on his radio and requested the Animal Control Officer to be brought to the scene.
My poor sister was in tears. She loved animals of all kinds and was deeply saddened she had hurt the deer. She also was deeply upset to think no one was doing anything to put the deer out of its misery. Dave and I were frustrated, also. We could hear and see the struggles of the deer. It was heart-rending, seeing the pain the deer was suffering.
A neighbor, who was on his way home, saw the cruiser stopped and pulled his truck over, having noticed the three of us at the edge of the road, peering into the bushes.
“What is happening?” He asked us.
We told him of the car hitting the deer, and he went closer to the deer to have a look.
“I’ll go home and get my rifle. That deer needs to be put out of its misery.” He offered.
“You can’t do that. The Animal Control Officer has been called.” The patrolman said. “If you shoot the deer, I’ll have to arrest you for poaching.”
“You’ll let that deer suffer?” The neighbor asked.
“I’m just doing my job. Those are my orders, to wait for the Animal Control Officer.” He replied.
We couldn’t believe what was happening. We ended up waiting for almost a half an hour for the Animal Control Officer to show up, all the while hearing the thrashing of the deer. It was pitiful, really, that this officer hadn’t the courage to do the right thing.
Finally, the Patrolman received a radio call telling him the Animal Control Officer, was not on the Island. He would have to deal with the situation himself. The Patrolman went to his cruiser and took his shotgun out of the trunk, loaded it and approached the deer. One shot from his shaking hands, only wounded the animal even more. A second shot, from closer range still did not kill the deer. It took a third shot to end the animal’s suffering.
I have never forgotten that day. To me, it was a blatant example of the idiocy of non-flexible rules and the ridiculousness of the “Chain of command”. The deer had to suffer because of stupid rules set down by politicians and bureaucrats. Rules, rules, rules. We are governed by rules, not common decency and compassion. We have lost our way, my friends. “I am only doing my job.” or “I’m just following orders.” are the responses of unthinking, unfeeling zombies, who refuse to think for themselves, and to react for themselves. This is not progress. Yes, we like to think we are an advanced, cultured society, but we have become a nation of zombies, moving through our lives following rules, laws, and the so-called conventions of Society, never bothering to think for ourselves. Never to allow our hearts, and our own thoughts to guide us, is to be a zombie.
Take a look at what is happening in the world today. Are the events, such as the Iraq war, the Afghanistan war, the Libyan war, the so-called Democracy movements in the Middle East, the thefts of trillions of dollars by the Big Banks with the aid of the Federal Reserve, the brutality of the police against the Occupy Wall Street protesters across the Country, the persecution of those who desire raw milk, or alternative medications, are all these actions the result of compassion and decency? Or they the actions of zombies, who are merely following orders? It is for you to decide. I merely ask that you decide from within yourself, not merely to respond with learned behavior thrust upon you without compassion by the Authorities, the “correct’ institutions, and the media. In other words, think for yourself.
Shorty Dawkins
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