herd Dosquatch In the beginning there were the trees. And the trees were good. And man said, "let there be machinery," and there was machinery. And the machinery hummed and rumbled such that one could no longer hear the songbirds or the rustling of leaves. And man said, "let there be clear land," and the machinery moved. And in the wake of the movement there lay disturbed soil, ripped clean of trees and animals and all other manner of living things. And man said, "let there be a strip mall," and again the machinery moved, and in its wake was all manner of pavement, and visually appealing storefronts, and nifty lighted signs, and the clear land was sealed beneath it all, safely out of reach of trees, and animals, and rain, and all manner of living things. And the nifty signs were lighted. And the storefronts opened. And the herds came. And the parking was ample, and the sales were high. And man looked over all he had created, and saw that it was good. And the traffic increased, and the people desired "peace and quiet", so they moved farther away to where there were trees, and singing birds, and animals, and all manner of life. And the people said, "We want more convenient shopping!" And man found a pristine location on a semi-major roadway, conveniently near the interstate. And man said, "let there be machinery, and clear land, and attractive storefronts with ample parking such that the people may be happy again!" And it was so. And sales at the first strip mall dropped, for the people no longer wanted to travel the extra 10 minutes. And the attractive storefronts closed and decayed, and the nifty lighted signage fell into disrepair. And the people looked with askance upon the abandoned mall, and called for commissions to study the problem, and petitioned the government to fund "urban renewal" so that it may be shiny and clean again. And the people wondered and opined and debated as to how such things happen. And I... I just want to smack 'em all with a good two by four. ~"~ 040421 ... This world... I laughed, but mainly I wanted to cry. Thanks for it though, dosQ. 070712 ... black and white i just recently got hired by a company that boosts a cow theme. they call their employees herd. wtf man? it's an exciting job with lots of opportunity i am told but i can't shake this denomination off. in the corporate world this is like insult added to injury. 070714 ... hsg then prove otherwise. e pluribus, unum... e worribus, so sumthg. 070714 ... hsg *do as in, do something. stupid typoes. when will they learn? 070714 ... Otto Xref @ black and white: coworker_coworker 080105 what's it to you? who go blather from