Sunday, September 25, 2011

Relocation Services

Dear Readers:
I wrote this piece over two years ago but I was advised not post it because it would be too upsetting.  But now since we are well past our Financial and Political instability problems around the world, I can post this and continue to fulfill the TEDBITS mission of insight and entertainment for the Hi-Q.
Sincerely,
Tedbits


There was a lot of unrest because of what was happening. Confidence was lost. The system was collapsing. Those with much to lose- lost a lot. Those with little- lost everything. The politicians couldn't find any new people to blame. The people ran out of patience.


It started in the cities. We watched it on the news. But eventually it spread.

The police, whose job it is “to protect and to serve”, could do neither. There was too many of us to protect against so many. Police officers also had their own families. No one blamed them.  Many of them were lost at the hands of those with nothing to lose.

It had been so long since we worked together as a community that the task of coming together was overwhelming. We lost the ability to organize and effectively structure for the common good. There was no basis upon which to make decisions or agree on plans.

One day, the military arrived at the top of our street. A soldier knocked on our door, who looked exactly like the proud military hero of our dreams. He was young, strong and confident. He spoke well. We felt comforted.

He was unarmed and clearly no threat. Telling us that there was no possibility for the government to protect us in our homes, he handed us a brochure that gave us information about where we would be relocated and what we should bring. It even included luggage tags that we were to affix to travel luggage, one bag per person, to be left by our front door to be picked up later by the quartermaster corps.

The letter said that we were free to “stay in our homes” rather than participate in the relocation. It also warned that there was no guarantee that there would be a second chance as the situation was fluid with matters worsening by the hour.

Our decision had to be our own. All communications, phone-internet-cable, had been down for weeks. The electrical power was unreliable and had been totally out since this morning.  We would listen to the radio in our car for news but didn't dare drive anywhere- it was getting too dangerous. We were on our own.

In 2 hours, buses would be available at the main intersection near our house. We had that amount of time to make our decision, pack, tag, leave our bags at the front door and get to the buses.

So we did, never to return. They lost our luggage. But we don’t need it anymore.

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