FOR THE MOMENT

Band-aids are a wonderful invention. You can put them on a bleeding wound and get on with your life. You assume they will stop the bleeding and that is enough.

Providing you are realistic about the size of a wound naturally. If you say have a gun shot wound or one the size of a bowling ball a band-aid won't work.

But that doesn't mean you don't have the desire to hope a band-aid will work. To me this is just another aspect of the glorious process called denial.

I see it all the time as a politician. There are social wounds and those to our basic governmental systems that are bleeding profusely from red tape and waste. They cost a fortune because of these wounds.

And the easiest solution is to put on a verbal band-aid. If we can do it with a press conference it is even better. That truly makes us feel better and helps us forget the bleeding that isn't stopping.

Later when the system dies from such bleeding, we toss the carcass on some ash heap of neglect and then find a new victim to takes its place. Promising, of course to do better this time, but we never do.

In this age of looming disasters such as the oil crisis I guess I am comforted that we haven't given in to the temptation to avoid the use of band-aids. Lord knows it would be a nice alternative to find actual solutions to problems, but I doubt that will ever happen. Not as long as man has a mind that is so fond of denial's band-aids.

Some keep claiming we will change. I'm not sure that is realistic. I for one don't see it happening. Not any time soon.

So we live for the moment and hope to god it isn't going to be followed by a disaster. If we can manage a party, so be it. If we can't then life goes on.

In either case, for the moment will always stab us in the gut with a need to do something when a wound occurs. And if we can in any way resort to a band-aid all the better!

This system naturally makes life perfect for us that are politicians. We do savor the wonderful way it prolongs our capacity to talk without doing a thing to improve life.

Which is the way I prefer it. Sad as it might appear to people who care, I honestly know the world is far more overpopulated by those who don't.

We rejoice in the essence of life that comes for the moment and do our best to not let the times that intrude with wounds keep us from being happy.

Here's hoping you find the joy too. And if by chance you don't, then at least you can lie about it!