Simon – Blue Eyes and More, with Help

Blue eyes, good teeth, tall, and blonde hair that stays combed. Don’t many men want to grow up that way? Throw in the latest clothes and a convertible sports car and you’ve got it all.

Simon was my best friend in high school and college. Those were great days. Both he and I didn’t measure up to reality, but somehow, we stood out . . . and only cheating now and then.

In the matter of business, Simon got us decent positions. His family got him into some of the best businesses and he brought me along. I came up with ideas and Simon explained them to the lawyers and specialists. We kept moving on up. We didn’t always win, but did darn near.

Finally, it came to pass that Simon wanted to run for office. He had numerous ideas, but none I could really see as worthwhile. I declined to participate. In the end, Simon won the election and I could almost hear the red wolves of Point Defiance calling for his blood.

Simon went from one fiasco to another. When he called for a little coffee discussion, I said “Okay.” We met and we talked. My suggestion was to simply talk to those who were starving and find out what was keeping them going and what was their goal.

We ended up with questions about finding jobs, asking about problems and answers, and leaving issues out in the open. Soon the county was calling for the removal of those currently running the issues and begging for those who had better ideas. Simon was nominated and won and talked a good game, but in the end he just asked for ideas from the general public without coming up with anything on his own.

What the two of us came up with were free classes from community colleges. We expected a horrible loss of funds for the city and county, but surprisingly, it was just the opposite. Those who kept asking questions and delivering the realities were helpful. Everyone seemed to be helping everyone. It was a miracle . . . eventually things went south, but not without a number of things actually working and that’s tough to complain about, even, with Simon doing virtually nothing about his own ideas.