The Local Man Answers To No Man

I woke up today with a renewed sense of my self, my independence, and my ability to say what I want, being beholden to no man. I lay abed, recommitting myself to a sturdy resolve in these matters, disdaining all allegiances, foreign or domestic, that might impinge on my freedom.

That's the kind of attitude, the kind of spirit, you can have when you're the local man. Just me, independent, all by myself. The national man is usually part of a syndicate. He's in a network of associates, just one tiny box about the size of a pinpoint on an intricate and involved flowchart. I don't know for sure, but I think there hasn't been an independent national man since Daniel Boone. In ancient times.

Then we have the man up the rung from the national, the international man. His daily intercourse is at the highest realms, echelons, really, of the world. Talk about networks and intricacy and involvement, oh boy! The international man doesn't have the independence to crack his knuckles. He might've woke up this morning in Japan and will sleep tonight in New York. He's got a briefcase like the shed in my backyard. And it never gets lost because there's super computers keeping track of it via a satellite signal. If it ever got lost -- and it won't! -- things would turn very sour very fast.

Would I ever like to be the international man? I suppose I've daydreamed of it, if I'm being totally honest. The travel, the people I'd meet, the important shed I'd be carrying around. Who hasn't daydreamed of rolling dice in Monaco? Or looking at the behind of a boatman in Venice? But then I think, It's not just luxury, it's the endless duties, heavy responsibilities, entangled relationships, the whole thing of vast networks and demanding men you're answering to 24/7. Again, it might be tempting -- the international man is obviously on the cutting edge of communications, super computers and holography, and has a lot more to write home about than, say, me.

The biggest difference, going with that last point, is that I'm always home already; there's no need to write. The neighbors see me walking to my car, then they see me walking back to the house. I'm out watering flowers when they're in season. I fling a dead mouse to the road every few days. Thankfully, the traffic is such that they never have a chance to pile up. I can drive around town and the same old people know me. They ask about me. There's nothing bogus, not like the national and international man get. As far as the personal touch, they're screwed.

I was in bed thinking of all this today. Then I carried it over to the shower. Thinking how the local man can really enjoy his shower. The thought was somewhere in the background that I could make an alliance with a few other people. Then I thought, No! That'd be just the beginning! And next thing, I'd be entangled, answering to someone else. From there it'd be a short jump to county man, state man, regional man, national man, and international man. And that's not a jump I'm prepared to make!