Bob Goulet

There are times that I feel like I’m doing my best Don Quixote imitation; tilting at windmills, fighting giants that aren’t there.

Blinded out of my sense of justice to the stark reality of our situation.

To be told by not one but two governmental agencies that my developer has not broken any laws. Wading through the indifference of neighbors who are either too busy or too lazy to take the time to mount a campaign or file a charge in their own defense.

Daring to question and take on my developer who has seemingly played this game before.

It’s enough to wear a normal sister out.

Luckily for me I’ve never been described as “normal.”

Let me give you good folks a personal observation then a story:

Do you know someone who literally has everything dropped in their lap? You know the type of person who puts a quarter in the slot machine and hits the jackpot. The person whose fortune always happens to put them in the right place at the right time; the individual that always comes out smelling like a rose?

I am not that person.

Rather, I am the scrapper---the person who always had to work a little harder to keep up and exercise a considerable amount of effort to succeed.

And trust me; it hasn’t come at the cost of many mistakes. I’m just as much as a dumbass as the next person. But I do try to learn and not make the same mistake over and over. Twice usually does it for me.

Then of course no man (or woman) is an island. I have a select group of people who I count as friends and more importantly if gloves have to come off will be there for a sister.

My point is I have no choice but to work hard for what I have. Shit just won’t fall in my lap because that’s my most cherished wish. Get in the mix and make it happen. That’s how I was raised.

That’s why this whole bootleg developer thing bothers me so much.

It was never a case of asking above and beyond what was expected but rather what was fair. If my developer and I were in front of Judge Larry Elder in Moral Court, I’m sure I would win.

Now there’s an idea. Perhaps I should get to work on that.

Lying in a bed I didn’t make is not in my nature. No one will stand up for you if you don’t stand up for yourself.

O.K., I’m finished with the insight, now for the story.

From my freshman to senior years in college I applied every spring for an internship with the Chicago Cubs.

Every year I was shown the door; except for my senior year.

After much persistence and showing up every year like the swallows coming back to Capistrano, I finally secured an internship in the marketing department.

I had an amazing summer, made some great friends and had an experience that some people would kill for----to get an intimate business view of a Major League Baseball Team.

Straight, no chaser within a storied franchise no less. That’s about as baseball as baseball can get.

The moral: Don’t accept the first, second or even the third no as a final answer. I still have to remind myself of that from time to time.

No laws to address shoddy development? Bah, I’ll start a grassroots effort to get them changed.

Disinterested neighbors? I should be thankful for the ones who are in the good fight with me.

But if need be I’ll stand alone tilting at windmills singing about my impossible dream.