Roeland and all, Very good story Roeland!!! And We agree that this does get right to the point. I t is my personal hope that all took the time to read it and head its lesson!! Roeland M.J. Meyer wrote: > Hello all, > There is a question at the end. This is a longish story. Please read it, > you'll get the point. > > ====================================== > Once upon a time there was this group of people that wanted > to go somewhere very far away. Not all of them knew exactly > where they wanted to go, they just wanted to go there. A > bunch of them got together and decided that they could get > there by building a railroad. They started to experiment by > building a local trolley line. The trolley worked well > within their town and it was a definite benefit. They began > to experiment with different guages of track, locomotives, > and cars. > > In the process, one individual started to rise to a fairly > strong position of preemmenence. This person loved driving > trains and soon became the most trusted engineer in the > effort. Note that he didn't design the trains, he only drove > them. > > It got so that this person started suggesting directions in > which to build the tracks. No one really objected because > they really didn't know where they wanted to go anyway. > > These people were very industrious and they built their > tracks everywhere. As they built track into an area new > people became involved in the effort. The more track they > laid, the more people became involved. Everyone involved was > doing it because it was fun and everyone enjoyed traveling > everywhere. > > There came the day that the system had developed the > technology to build a really long track, complete with a > train that could ride on it all the way. It was a strong and > fast train, a beauty. It was very long and had many > varieties of cars. It had freight cars, dining cars, sleeper > cars, private cars, and every other conceivable kind of car. > > The track was laid to connect all the towns that were > discovered and all the places that the most trusted engineer > found interesting. The only problem was that the engineer > only wanted to drive the train to places he was interested > in going. It wasn't a severe problem because it was usually > to places most everyone else wanted to go anyway. This is > why he was the most trusted engineer in the first place. > > However, this project was taking more and more resources. > Moreover, many were discovering that this same system could > move freight very easily. It was actually starting to show > some serious benefit and some of them started using the > railroad for commerce. > > NO, No, no, said the original people, this system is for fun > and travel, so that we can enjoy ourselves. It is purely for > our pleasure. There was a lot of debate. The newer people > had also invested a great deal of time in the railroad. In > addition, the freight business was starting to really pay > off. They didn't see anything wrong with the dual-use of the > railroad for both business and pleasure. The debates went on > and on ... > > In the meanwhile, the most trusted engineer, who hadn't > really been paying attention to the debates, continued to > drive his trains and suggest new direction to build tracks. > He loved to go to some of the most inaccessable areas and he > loved driving his train there. As always he followed his own > guidance and kept his own council. But, the system had > gotten so big that there really weren't enough trains to go > to all the different places people wanted to go. There were > only 240 different trains. Three or four of them had gotten > really big and were overloading the tracks. Their size made > them extremely unwieldy, almost dangerous. > > A group of people started saying that more different trains > were needed, along with more engineers to drive them. Some > of them were specialized trains to carry frieght and > commerce. There was even a call for specialized trains, on > special tracks, with regular schedules. > > The most trusted engineer was completely oblivious to these > debates until a group came to him with a special proposition > to help design these new trains and train the engineers. He > began the work but the original people objected. They said, > "Sure we'll let this be done, but only on our terms." The > most trusted engineer knew these people for a long time and > agreed to that. > > He let them talk him into setting up a council that would > continue to run the railroad exactly has he was running it > then and in the same manner. They talked him out of allowing > the new trains, or the new track. "We'll just make the > existing trains larger" was the answer. After all, no one > could concievably want to go more than 240 different > directions at once and the current track is good enough. > > The Mayor, of the original town, who had been the > focal-point of many complaints of the great debate, > meanwhile decided to privatize the railroad, so that he > could get some peaceful sleep. You see, both sides of the > debate were calling him up at all hours of the day and night > and he was fed up with it. > > The original people reacted with great jubilation, they got > the most trusted engineer to convene a special council, taking > over the previous council, and incorporate the railroad, to their > own design, completely leaving the commerce people out of the > discussions. The commerce people were understandably upset > at this and formed their own group. They petitioned the Mayor, > who had thought himself finally clear of this, and complained > about the state of affairs. > > The Mayor hadn't intended for this to happen and he stopped > it. He said "You will have to come to term with each other > and run this railroad by consensus. Neither one of you can > ignore the other, you will have to discuss this amicably. In > the meantime, I want out of it." > > The commerce people, began to meet in order to decide what > to do. The original people were included and there was a > great discussion. However, the most trusted engineer > continued to hold his own private council, in concert with > the original people. He had his own summit conferences and > his own agenda. The original people also had thier own > spies, in high places, in the commerce people's committees. > The commerce people were aware of this, but they too trusted > the most trusted engineer. > > Just before the dead-line, placed by the Mayor for > resolution, the most trusted engineer announced an entire > new organization incorporated to run the rairoad. All input > from the commerce people were ignored and the most trusted > engineer was going to run the whole railroad, just as he had > been doing. The commerce people had their own proposal, but > did not have the support of the most trusted engineer. The > Mayor, although he knew it wasn't fair, had almost no > choice, since he was not about to leave the railroad in the > hands of someone that the most trusted engineeer did not > support. > > Then the unthinkable happened. The most trusted engineer > died. Everyone was sad. However, what was left in place was > his private council. They knew nothing about running a > railroad, because they were depending on the most trusted > engineer to tell them how. They were also used to not > listening to anyone other than the original people, as that > was who had put them into power in the first place. They had > no allegiance to the commerce people and didn't feel that > they had to listen to them. > > The commerce people didn't really want to run the railroad. > They were all busy with commerce. The original people wanted > to run the railroad, but many of them didn't even want to > allow commerce, let alone accept input from those evil > commerce people. The Mayor again said, "NO! That is not what > I intended. But, in the interests of expediency, and the > commerce people's lack of willingness to run the railroad, I > will let the original people run it, but they must listen to > the commerce people in an open manner." Of course, other > than a slight show, they didn't, they had no reason to. > After all, what were the commerce people going to do, take > over? They had already set things up so there was no profit, > or revenue stream. The commerce people had no incentive to > run the railroad the way it was structured. > > The commerce people were very glum and depressed over this > state of affairs. No new trains were going to get built, no > special track was going to get laid, and no regular > scheduled runs were going to be emplaced. The only other > choice they had was to build an entirely new railroad from > scratch. It was just too large a job. It appears that the > original people had won and commerce was going to be > restricted, if not eliminated as something evil. > > Before the initial contract was awarded from the Mayor's > office, there was one final chance for the commerce people > to lodge a protest. However, they would have to commit to > actually running the railroad. > > The question is, can they commit? Once the contract is > awarded, the original people have no reason to listen to > those evil commerce people ever again. > ====================================== > > ___________________________________________________ > Roeland M.J. Meyer - > e-mail: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Internet phone: hawk.lvrmr.mhsc.com > Personal web pages: http://staff.mhsc.com/~rmeyer > Company web-site: http://www.mhsc.com > ___________________________________________________ > KISS ... gotta love it! Regards, -- Jeffrey A. Williams CEO/DIR. Internet Network Eng/SR. Java/CORBA Development Eng. Information Network Eng. Group. INEG. INC. 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