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A
SSOCIATED
N
EWSPAPERS OF
M
ICHIGAN
P
AGE
8
March 15, 2012
She is really a pain.
She wakes me up in the middle
of the night for no reason other
than to make sure I'm still right
where she leftme and to nuzzle her
coldnose into some pretty personal
spots onmy sleeping body.
She literally dances with joy
when I get up in themorning and is
nearly overcome with happiness to
see me, so much so that she trips
me on the way out of the bedroom
with her wiggling and happy shim-
my. Walking to the kitchen is akin to
navigating a very large and
writhing obstacle course. My pet-
ting her sends her into spasms of
joy andunparalleled ecstasy.
She whines, pitifully, if I even
look like I might think about leav-
ing the room.
She cannot wait for me to finish
preparing her breakfast and wig-
gles and dances around, often step-
ping solidly enough on my feet to
leave large bruises.
She has to have all my attention,
all the time, and I have to have at
least one hand stroking and caress-
ing her or she is brokenhearted.
She goes outside but will only
stay for anything other than the
most necessary of functions unless
I amwilling to accompany her with
a full basket of fetchable toys.
She is Lucy the clown dog who
actually belongs to my son and
daughter-in-law. They went out of
town last month and I got to spend
10 days taking care of this 80-pound
bundle of pure adoration.
Trust me, there is nothing better
for one's ego than a dog like Lucy.
Nothing.
If I thought about leaving the
house, it was to big, sad brown eyes
and loud doggie sighs of dismay.
When I returned, whether I'd been
gone 10 minutes or 3 hours, there
was more joy than any lottery win-
ner has ever known. Our reunions
knewno boundaries.
"She's really a good dog. She
won't be any trouble," my son told
me.
Well, he was right about that.
She wasn't any trouble, she just
filled up my life and my heart with
so much intense affection and gen-
tle adoration, I will never be the
same again.
She cries andwhines at the back
door to go out into the yard. Then
30 seconds later, or however long it
takes for me to find a comfortable
spot to sit, she barks to come back
in.
She treats Milk Bones with the
same addictive needmany have for
crack cocaine and will not stop
whining, sighing, rolling her eyes,
stomping, and when her cravings
get too severe, even barking, until I
produce her drug of choice. (If my
daughter-in-law knew that we went
through an entire extra large box of
those treats, in addition to the ones
she left, there would be some trou-
ble.)
She wants to helpme withwhat-
ever I might be trying to do, too. If I
want to make the bed, she has to
help by sitting on the sheets or pil-
lows. If I am cleaning the kitchen,
she thinks it is her job to lick the
dishes she can reach in the dish-
washer, despite my loud protests. If
I am trying to dust, she thinks the
dustcloth is a tug-of-war toy and
can't wait to bite it and run away
from me. Mopping the floor is
impossible because she has to
chase every swipe of the Swifter.
Vacuuming is the only time there is
any peace and quiet, which tells
youa lot aboutmy visit.
She strongly believes that baths
are communal and she should be
in the tub with me, particularly if
the bubble bath smells like some-
thing she could eat. Dissuading her
of this conviction is no simple mat-
ter and requires a leash and choke
chain.
She loves
me. She has
loved
me
unabashedly since my son brought
all 9 pounds of her home from the
breeder about three years ago. She
adores my daughter-in-law and my
son and thinks my grandchildren
are swell as siblings go, but since I
first held her in my arms, this dog
gavemeher heart.
And the feeling ismutual.
My first night at home, I kept lis-
tening for her. I woke up twice in
the night worrying that I didn't hear
her breathing next to the bed.
When I did wake up, I was con-
fused as to why she wasn't under-
foot while on my way to the
kitchen.
We are relieved to find ourselves in some good company.
Somebody else simply doesn't understand the conduct of the
PlymouthTownship administration.
Last week, afterwatching the shenanigans in the township
for months, Northville Director of Public Safety John Werth
appeared at the meeting of the board of trustees and politely
asked if he could speak.
When he did, he left Supervisor Richard Reaume stam-
mering, Treasurer Ron Edwards sputtering and shouting
accusations and insults and other trustees with wide-eyes
and nervous tics. He also brought forth some surprised reac-
tions from many of the residents who crowded the township
hall for the first meeting since the board laid off a third of the
firefighters and closed the fire station that serves the largest
subdivision in the township.
Werth was professional, calm and effective as he spoke.
He told the board members that he agreed with them that
they had the right to set the level of service, but once they did,
they had to "own it."
Amen to that.
He specifically told Reaume that he needed to begin to
answer residents' questions about the issue. Another point
with which we heartily agree. He made many more salient
points at the meeting, but the quote most remembered will
probably be: "My family lives in the township. Eight people I
love live in the township. Your actions have made me con-
cerned for their safety."
When a man of Werth's long experience with public safety
management, both police and fire, makes a statement like
that, it behooves his neighbors to listen to what he has to say.
We have long ago taken a stand that the drastic cuts in public
safety in Plymouth Township pose a threat to residents there,
but we also understand the financial constraints township
officials face in attempting to balance the budget after the
loss of revenue fromtheCity of Plymouth.
What we don't understand is this board's determination to
thwart the will of the electorate and conniving to ensure that
the layoffs of the firefighters take place. These trustees con-
trived to ignore the petition signatures of 3,000 people by any
means possible. They fought the will of the people who elect-
ed them to have a special millage question on the ballot to
allow residents the right to vote on the issue. Even after a
court order, they denied residents the right to vote on a 1-mill
question, raising it to 10 mills to ensure failure so that they
could impose theirwill on amostly unsuspecting public.
We have said we feel this is a denial of the constitutional
rights of the citizens to vote and the actions of this board
infringe on the rights guaranteed to American citizens in the
constitution.
What kind of leadership does this arrogant demagoguery
demonstrate? Certainly not what Americans should expect at
every level of their government.
Werth told the trustees that he could run a fire depart-
ment with one firefighter if necessary, but it wouldn't be the
right thing or a safe thing to do. He also told them that this
was a management and negotiation issue. His other quote
which rang through the chambers was damning, indeed. "I'd
love to negotiate with these guys," Werth said, referring to the
firefighters union officials who have already offered more in
concessions than the township officials demanded.
We don't understand the rush to lay off these firefighters
when binding arbitration is currently under way. We don't
understand the contrivance of this board to avoid listening to
and answering the public. We don't understand the disregard
for public safety and failure to find an objective, credible
expert to offer advice in both negotiation and operations. We
don't understand the disregard of these board members for
the constitutional rights of the citizens or their ignorance of
the legal jeopardy in which they have placed the township
should a court take up their assault on the civil rights of the
residents, and somemay say, the individual firefighters.
Some
things
do not
change
Trust me, there is
nothing better for one's ego
than a dog like Lucy.
Nothing.
”
Love is 80 pounds of wiggling, dancing dog
”
A welcome ‘voice of reason’ is heard at last
I'd love to negotiate
with these guys.
John Werth
Once again, we are amazed at
the accuracy of a long-held belief
in the newspaper business: People
readwhat theywant to read.
That doesn't mean they pick
and choose stories, but is rather an
observation about the interpreta-
tion of the items in any publica-
tion. As careful as any reporter or
editor might be, there is always
someone who will find an alter-
nate, and usually inaccurate, inter-
pretation of what is printed. It hap-
pens every week and the only sil-
ver lining is that when these peo-
ple call, orwrite, it is evidence that
someone is, in fact, reading the
paper.
Small consolation that it is,
especially when weighed against
the amount of time, energy and
self-control it takes to explain
what the real meaning of the word
choices were when these folks call
orwrite about their complaints.
This week, again, one local
municipal official took umbrage
with a news story and found sever-
al "errors". Unfortunately for him,
those errors were non-existent,
and were a matter of his reading
what he wanted to read into the
story.
When that was explained, he
was less than mollified, and insist-
ed that his interpretation was the
correct one and that "everybody"
read exactly what he did in the
article. There is no answer to that
argument, other than to apologize
for the "confusion" and try to
politely get the complainer off the
phone. When convinced that a
news story paints them in a less-
than-flattering light, many will find
the most obscure technicality to
cite as "inaccurate" in an attempt
to discredit the entire story.
People read what they want to
read into the tone, word choices
and even punctuation when they
have some parochial or personal
interest in what is written. The
casual reader of the same sen-
tence or paragraph usually doesn't
find the insult, offense or error in
the same article. Usually the tech-
nical faults the subject finds are
not evennoticedbymost readers.
We do try to be careful, to
choose our words carefully, and
with an economy that prevents
misinterpretation. We are not
always as successful as we would
hope, but we do continue to
attempt to save ourselves and
those we write about from the
embarrassment of ill-chosen
words or phrases.
See
Read,
page 9
See
Voice,
page 9
See
Lucy,
page 9