I thought I saw Vick today.  It would be so strange if really was him.  I’d like to talk to Vick, ask him what he thinks now.  A lot has changed in the three years since I last saw him.

Only three years?  Really, that’s all it was?  It just seems a life time ago.  I have become set in my routines, as we all have.  It’s just, well, it’s hard to imagine what the world was like back then.  After I saw the man I thought was Vick, I did think about it and remembered that conversation.  Or perhaps it was a lecture.  Maybe a sermon.  Hell, Vick was pretty charismatic and could have drawn a crowd if he were reading a dictionary.

We were in the little pub where the locals all met.  And there was Vick, shooting his mouth off, as usual.  But this time, the looks in people’s eyes were very different.

“It isn’t so bad, you know,” Vick said.  “In fact, it is for the best.  You’ll see.  When all is said and done, this will end up being a good thing.  We’ll see a much better, fairer world.  Hell, I guess I said that wrong, because few if any of us will see the benefits, but our kids and grandkids will.”

There was a silence.  Ted had turned down the TV so everyone could hear Vick.  As usual for this time of day, the news had spouted off the grim statistics and the dire warnings.  They paraded experts through and they all predicted gloom and doom.  What did Vick know that they didn’t? Continue reading →