Fw: Whether to Tether

[Chatham Chatlist]

----- Forwarded Message -----

From: Doug Berg <doug...@gmail.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 9, 2013 8:44 PM
Subject: Whether to Tether

Some years ago a friend asked me to give her a ride over to her son’s house to retrieve her car he’d borrowed. I’d never been there, but she said it wasn’t far. I wanted to ask but did not ask why not get the boy to bring the car to her house and then drive him home. So we hopped in my car and set out. On the way we passed a little house with a big dog on a short chain in the yard. “An idiot lives there,” I said.

            “Why’s that?” she asked.

            “Big dog on a short chain: let’s you know a fool lives in the house. Always useful to know ahead of time what you’re dealing with.”

            My friend said nothing. When we arrived at the son’s house there stood an even bigger dog, trembling on an even shorter chain.

There’s a lesson somewhere here. It goes under the category of “Things we disapprove of but about which there’s not much we can do.”