The Little Dutch Boy
Revisited
copyright © 2003 by Robert L. Blau
One day in the Netherlands, a little boy
was
walking to school when he noticed a trickle of water meandering down a
dike.
"My goodness!" thought he. "This is not a good
thing! My country depends on those dikes to keep the ocean
out! I must do something!"
So the little boy plugged the hole with the nearest
thing to hand, which was, of course, his finger. At the same
time, he shouted loudly for help.
"Help! Help!" he screamed. "The dike is leaking!"
At last, his hearty howling attracted a Sensible
Citizen.
"I say," said the Sensible Citizen, "what are you
doing there, young man?"
"Oh, thank goodness someone has come!" gasped the
boy in relief. "The dike is leaking. I'm plugging the hole with
my finger, but someone needs to come and fix it."
"Don't be absurd," said the Sensible Citizen. "Get
your finger out of that hole immediately! Dikes are the
responsibility of the Greater Netherlands Dike Authority. You're
meddling in things that are not your concern."
"Not my concern?" shrilled the boy. "If the dike
breaks, I'll drown, too! I think that's my concern."
"Pish-tosh," said the Sensible Citizen.
Sensible Citizens frequently say things like "pish-tosh." "You don't
understand how an orderly society works. There is a
responsibility for each, and each to his responsibility. If you
start messing with other people's jobs, you throw the whole thing out
of whack."
"Well, if I don't plug this dike," said the little
boy, "we're all going to be 'whacking' like ducks! Or we'd better
be able to swim like them, at least."
The Sensible Citizen proceeded to grasp the boy
around the shoulders and attempt to pull him away from the dike.
Fortunately, at this point in the debate, a representative of the
Greater Netherlands Dike Authority happened by.
"What are you doing with the dike?" he demanded.
"I'm a representative of the GNDA, so I have a right to know."
"Am I glad to see you!" cried the little boy. "I've
been plugging the hole in this dike with my finger for ever so long,
and this gentleman is trying to make me pull it out."
"Sir," said the GNDA rep, "unhand that lad.
Son, remove your finger from that dike."
"Are you going to fix the hole now?" asked the boy
happily.
"No, of course not," said the GNDA rep. "I made that
hole with my own hammer and chisel."
"Good heavens, why?!" asked the startled boy.
"An unpunctured dike is dangerous," said the GNDA
guy. "You see, it's at risk from the tremendous pressure of the
ocean pushing against it. So the GNDA has wisely decided to punch
some holes to relieve the pressure. It's the only way to protect
the dike."
Many thanks to the cities and states
that are passing resolutions against the "PATRIOT" Act.