Who can hear the chalk?

I parked the truck, hopped out, and there on the sidewalk a message was scrawled in chalk; the words, “DON’T BE A” and then a simple drawing of a fluffy four-legged beast that could only be a sheep.

Looking up, there loomed a billboard hawking the latest crap that nobody needs.

Of these two messages, I suppose far more people will see the billboard. And for those who do, all will suffer in one way or another.

Far fewer people will notice the chalk message during its short life prior to being washed away by the elements.

Of those who see it, some will be permanently, if perhaps only slightly, changed by it. Some will be comforted by it. Some will be annoyed that hooligans have marred the beauty of this paradise of concrete, pavement and billboards with senseless graffiti. Some will be in too much a hurry to grasp its meaning and at least one will talk about it on his blog.

I hear the voices of dull conformity everywhere I turn in this society while the wise are rarely heard.

But do we deserve better? Aren’t we all enablers?

By our constant capitulation to the obvious unapologetic bullshit of all things political; to the wildly illogical lunacy of modern religious interpretation, to the useless meaningless tidbits of crap sold by the media in drag as information; and the vulgar vacuous doublespeak of corporations, we empower these structures and promote their continued slide into insanity.

While most of us are far too intelligent to fall prey to such ludicrousness, we do so anyway. We don’t take the time or effort or courage to question our role; our participation. We harbour our fears and just keep doing the same thing everyone else is doing and preaching the same empty counterfeit sound-bytes that everyone else is saying.

Mindless participation in joyless, asinine and illegitimate pursuits. It keeps the governments, churches and corporations thriving; keeps the big machine churning; keeps our lower-order instincts and our false fears agitated; keeps the rich rich and the powerful powerful and the deceived deceived.

And the sheep never learn that they are sheep.

Sorry chalk man. Sorry to let you down.