Sure surprised me that the rain came so fast and now my ponds are full and, by golly, the water is clean! What a deal! And I sure am relieved, cause going into winter without that little job taken care of can be almost disastrous.
I do know about disasters; I learned from my close relative. We had one this past week, and I really don’t think she will ever get over it. We try to do right about our bills, try to pay them on time and keep all the important papers of the business at hand in order. My close relative is pretty fussy, maybe even downright mean, about taking care of that sort of stuff.
I was handed some envelopes to put in the mail a couple weeks ago. I guess it was about the first of the week. My close relative told me that I should not put these in the rural mailbox, but to take them to town to the U.S. Government post office. She made that statement a couple of times. I shot back something like, “OK, I got it,” and hurried off tothe truck.
I got it, alright. If she had been holding a gun, I would have sure enough had it. I just clean forgot to post the mail and found them on the dash yesterday afternoon when I came in for supper. I reached up there to see what was over my trusty fly swatter handle and there they were.
Remember when you were a kid and got caught doing or not doing what you knew you were gonna get a whipping for? Remember that queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach? I had that feeling and broke a sweat when I read the addressee. This important little piece of correspondence was to the tax collector, and I knew then that a disaster was headed for me. I’d be fortunate if I got out alive, and I can tell you why.
That was the second time I had failed to carry out that little task of mailing in the tax checks in the last few years. I had done it a few years back and, when confrontedwith my name in the paper because I had not paid, I sorta bowed up like an old mad bull and blew off some steam. I acted macho and pulled my hat down tight and slammed the door as I left. Dang it, how I was wishing I hadn’t done that. My memory was sure painful at that point; and I began to be ashamed, along with dreading the tongue lashing! Sick as a dog, I was.
It is my opinion, and everyone has one, I would rather take a good hard licking than see the look of disgust and nary a spoken word to condemn my actions. A grown man has the right to make some, although be it just a few, mistakes. I feel like I should hold my head high and take whatever happens to me because of it. I know my name is gonna be smeared again; all my friends and acquaintances will read and mark in red the folks that they know who reneged on the taxes.
I am still in the dog house, and my meals consist of cold sandwiches. I sure will be glad when this is over! Maybe you could say a small prayer for my health. And. thanks ahead of time.
Bill is a pen name used by the Gravette author of this weekly column.
Opinion, Pages 6 on 10/24/2012