Big Wide World

so you think you're free? so you think that you have choice? well, boys and girls, let my tell you a tale. it's a simple tale, its true. there once were two girls who tried to catch a cab in ottawa. they were exhausted from all their shopping and getting ready for their big night in bringing in a new year. and the town that they were in was brutally chilly and windy. with everything that they had to carry, they could not face the exhausting and freezing walk home. so they decided that they would seek the services of a taxi cab. these girls were very lucky, for they spotted 3 cabs, all in a row, standing and waiting for riders. but one of these girls is a local to the town of ottawa, and she preferred one of the cab companies over all the others in the land. and the cab that she chose was the second in line. so she went to the cab and asked whether this man wanted to make some money driving these girls home. but no, boys and girls, as these two girls stood freezing in the cold, the man shook his head. it appeared that he did not want their coin, and he told them that they had to go to the first cab in line. but one of these girls was not impressed, and she asked "but what if i don't want that one, i want this one?", and the man replied, "no mam, i cannot take you, you have to go to the taxi in front". so these girls were forced to do what the man told them, or face the freezing walk home.

so, sadly, we live in a world in which even the cab that you want to take is not in your power to chose. now, i realize, its not that big a deal. but start putting all these little things together, and you have to realize that you're not free. you are told each and everyday, multiple times, that in fact, what you can do, you are allowed to do. and even that is limited to what "they" allow you to do. but you/we don't usually say anything, b/c you/we don't realize that we are allowed little allowances of the illusion of choice so that we stay in our places and so we don't cause any trouble.

freedom is like santa claus and the easter bunny darlings... its a nice little story to tell the children, but it just doesn't exist.