Plan for Fillmore: Who Needs Trees?

You know, maybe I have been thinking about S. P. Milling’s plan for Fillmore from the wrong point of view. Maybe there is some good in having a strip mine in our backyard.

It would give truck drivers jobs--lots and lots of jobs, in fact. And it would help out the guys in petroleum, too,. Then maybe we should just sell that land surrounding the site to all the people who are going to work there so they can be close to work. I mean, it’s safe, isn’t it? Sure, it’s offensive to us, but they seem real excited about this project and what it will mean to them, so why not just go with it?

Then, because our town would be growing, we would need more of a police force. But, not to worry, because if someone does break into your home or steal your car, we now have a new jail conveniently located just down the road.

We could get rid of all these stupid trees. I mean, just how much orange juice and guacamole dip can you eat? And there is always Tang. I figure if it is good enough for our astronauts, it’s good enough for me. (I would suggest using bottled water, now that we have the nearby Toland dump.)

But, before I forget, there are the pictures we need to take. There are a lot of Kodak moments to photograph so one day we can take out our pictures and remember what it looked like when it was healthy and green and there were lots of trees and it was the kind of day you’d tell your child to go out and play in.

And, you know, if we get big enough and we get enough people to make this into just another large city, maybe we can vote to have a dump or a prison or even a strip mine in your backyard. Nothing personal, you understand, but politics are politics.

MICHELE Y. ANDERSON

Fillmore