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Pay no attention to that gorilla
For as long as anyone can remember, this hamlet has been a one-gorilla town.
How crazy would it be to take on an 800-pound gorilla?
Very crazy, especially an 800-pound gorilla that had the whole town under its big, fat, hairy thumb. And especially if that gorilla was a bully, renowned for throwing his weight around. Sometimes all it took to frighten the village was a loud snort and an earth-shaking foot stomp.
Nobody in the village respected the 800-pound gorilla. But they tolerated his behavior. After all, he was the 800-pound gorilla. His way or the highway. Piss him off, pay the price.
Even so, in the history of this one-gorilla town, nobody could recall such a heartless — might I say loveless — gorilla.
One thing was obvious, the 800-pound gorilla certainly didn’t act as if he loved his slave monkeys, at least the remaining ones.
Mind you, he once had many monkeys, until one by one he started banishing monkeys so he wouldn’t have so many to feed and care for. The remaining monkeys noticed their fellow monkeys’ fate. They got the point. Quickly, everyone, back to the banana-picking. You could be next.
Eventually, the 800-pound gorilla had barely enough monkeys to keep him supplied with bananas. Those remaining monkeys had quite a job on their hands because they were charged not only with finding more bananas but also doing the work left by the departed monkeys.
A few of the monkeys were so fed up that they fantasized about speaking up or even running away. But they were so tired. Besides, where would they go in this one-gorilla town?
So they stayed. But they were very unhappy, and it showed. Sometimes they talked about their frustrations among themselves, which only enraged the gorilla so much that he punished the talkative monkeys into submission.
Take that. Now shut up and pick those bananas or I’ll give the job to monkeys in another village.
But nothing enraged the gorilla more than when the departed monkeys threw pebbles at the 800-pound gorilla. Or pointed at him. Or told the world what a smelly, rude gorilla he’d been to work for. They mooned and ridiculed the gorilla.
But he was helpless to stop them.
Why?
Because the gorilla lived in a cage created especially for him, by an even bigger gorilla. The truth was, he wasn’t that powerful after all.
When the villagers realized this, they felt great relief. They ignored the gorilla. They learned that they didn’t need his permission or his jungle connections.
The gorilla roared and stomped and snorted. But nobody cared. Because they’d had an epiphany: This town had thousands of monkeys but only one gorilla.
Majority rules.
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Funny how petulant gorillas who run off monkeys often have their banana$ taken away.
Funny how petulant gorillas who run off monkeys often have their banana$ taken away.
*SNORK!*
What’s happened at the Record Searchlight is happening to every other newspaper in the country. The RS may be in trouble, but certainly not due to the departure of anyone who used to work there. If donigreenberg.com can actually sell enough advertising to pay the writers who volunteer their time and talent here, it will be the toast of the town and a model for newspapers all over the country.
The Type of the Day:
Under ONE CUP AND GO:
Man presumed dead in ‘79 flood found alive
is the title.
Then it says: A man believed to have died in a Colorado flood in 1976 has been found living in Oklahoma.
That must have been a heckuva 3 year flood.
oops! My OWN typo: Just goes to show the need for proofreading!!
I MEANT to say, “The TYPO of the day”
Doni…The Gorilla is becoming the big banana eating monkey with it’s two picture pages each week and it’s snake oil ads. There’s just not enough scandle in this town to rival the National Enquirer or The Globe and the local news is getting the back seat to long boring AP stories that could be told in two paragraphs.
It used to take me,at my leisure, a couple of hours to read from front to back but now an hour at most to scan the rag. It’s a sad situation and it just gets worse.
I do enjoy the comics, except for a few, and the crossword. They should bring back Andy Capp.
And Phil can now be found here along with my other favs, the Brewers, Kelly and Steve. What a line up you’ve got on this all new “Food For Thought.”
Keep on keepin on!
————–> Budd :>)
Doni, I just found your website. I was a 16 year RS employee before I found greener grass. I know there has been a lot of pain that people have been through the last few years and it is hard not to react to it. Congrats on your new venture. I am sure you will be successful if you concentrate on local. You will be much more able to move forward and be successful if you lose the chip on your shoulder. Point your site in the direction you want it to go and stop looking back.
Love the team you’ve come up with, but I agree with Mike C - the gorilla is getting way too much of your attention. We all know what’s become of the paper, so you’re not telling us anything new. Time to take the high road, stop gloating and get on with what you do so well. We’re with you, you know.
I cancelled my paper delivery some time ago as I watched one after another of my favorite writers disappear and the paper become something I no longer wished to read. Congratulations to you who have returned to writing with the expert journalism you were known for and bringing it to us in this new format. The hometown feeling has returned and I wish you well.
I interpreted this little fable to mean that because Doni has many friends at the zoo, perhaps she heard that another one had been crushed under that big, fat, hairy thumb. But instead of curling up in a corner never to be heard from again, these monkeys have moved onto greener pastures.
And for that, I thank her.
I’m so glad you guys have teamed up to offer food for thought to the north state. I’ve been browsing your website today and I’m not sure if:
a)I still just so mad at the RS I could spit, or
(b)if you have some really good points,
but I’m glad you shining some light on what is happening there.
I worked there for over seven years, and the last two took it from “best place to work EVER” to “how I can avoid a nervous breakdown. I find it very sad that something that was so wonderful has become a disservice to the community instead of a service.
I’ve been able to stay in news, although in broadcast - not print - and I swear I had post-traumatic-stress disorder when I left. My new peers had to treat me like a wounded animal - it’s okay to have ideas, we won’t shoot you.
I also get to work with a few young, hungry journalists who come at news with a naiveté and zest for truth I find refreshing. It’s not about angles, or salacious scandal - it’s about getting the news to our community every day so they can be informed.
I applaud you for creating this site - and you’ve got a brand new loyalist.