In 1960, episode 22 of the television series "Twilight Zone", by Rod Serling, was aired. It was titled "The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street". Some of you might remember the story. The highly acclaimed tale was also reproduced in readers for the schools, as it was a true social classic.
Seems it was a calm day on Maple Street, a typical American side street, when a flash of light passed overhead. Then, power went off and on up and down the street affecting cars, appliances, etc...Naturally, the neighbors meet and attempt to address the problem. Before long, suspicions arose, normally nice people started blaming each other, violent thoughts and actions arose, and terrible consequences resulted.
Nearby were two aliens, observing all of this from a spacecraft, who were amazed at how easy it was to turn a peaceful neighborhood upon each other, just by their manipulation of the power grids. They realized that all they had to do to take over the world was to let the people destroy themselves.
Many religious people among us believe that humanity was flawed with original sin, and therefore, we have this fundamental imperfection that causes normally "good" people to turn VERY nasty if the least little negative thing happens. That, of course, was the consequence of Maple Street, and I would opine that the very same consequence can be seen today on the streets of Lakewood.
Let's put all of this into perspective for a moment...
We have an issue...the hospital...
Now, worst case scenario, there are several other quality hospitals very close by available to us. Most of us knew long before Mayor Summers came into office that Lakewood Hospital was eventually going to be in trouble, for that reason alone. For one, it's old. For another, which ever way modern medicine was going, Lakewood Hospital hasn't appeared to be on that track for quite awhile now, at least in my opinion.
Now, please understand that I'm VERY much in favor of trying to save Lakewood Hospital. That said, I think we can all agree that saving it will be far and away the MOST difficult of the choices we have, because WHETHER any other health care provider would be willing to pick up the reins, do the necessary updates, refurbs, etc...would be a monumental wish for us, at this point.
By being proactive, the Mayor has brought all of this into sharp focus at this time. Whether he might have done it differently, or "better" or not is quite frankly, an irrelevant point. The fact of the matter is that the city's options are currently very limited, no matter which way all of this eventually plays out. Something HAD to be done about Lakewood Hospital. At least the mayor put the issue out there on the front burner, where it belongs.
Indeed, whether or not we can save the hospital at this point has almost become irrelevant. Saving the hospital pales in comparison to what we have been doing to each other lately.
Lakewood has become Maple Street.
The question now, is whether or not it will continue to be...
Back to the banjo...
