Auchtoon!

Originally published in the Grand Rapids Business Journal, July 30, 2007

Right. Just got back from a week’s vacation on the beach. And while I did endeavor to engage in slightly higher literary pursuits (read my first Christopher Moore novel: A Dirty Job. Brilliant!), I also couldn’t help but to catch up on pop culture, what with the ubiquitous newspapers and entertainment magazines. So apparently that Lohan girl/woman is back in rehab. And that Michael Vick dude has destroyed his football career. And Britney should be back in rehab. And an NBA ref took gambling money to throw basketball games. And Nicole Richie is going to jail. And Adam Sandler made another stupid movie. And Paris Hilton is out of jail. And so on…

The thing that struck me about all this, the common thread, was how indignant the reporters and commentators tend to be. They are shocked, shocked! at this behavior. Really? I’m not. Now don’t get me wrong. What these people have done was certainly inexcusable and more definitely avoidable. But when you consider the money involved and the human condition, it’s not hard to understand why this stuff happens.

So in this week’s comic, I’m not at all shocked that several local pension board members took what clearly was a boondoggle trip to Hawaii earlier this year and stuck taxpayers with the $37,000 bill. I just think that they should pay it back. Now that would be shocking….