The Monster in My Closet/What Did David Isbell Say?

The Monster In My Closet

One of my favorite things about being a dad is watching cartoons with my son. Lately he's got a major crush on Scooby Doo. Not just any Scooby Doo cartoon, but only those featuring the entire gang (that's right, take a hike Scrappy). We've weaned him just a bit, but still he's an hour a day Scooby Doo-Aholic. The problem, of course, is that it's scaring the bejesus out of him at night. There's been a couple times when he's asked for an escort to the bathroom. By the time we leave his night light on, the hall light on, his TV on...he's not really sleeping in the dark anymore. So you can see why I would be a little hesitant last week to believe that there was a monster in his closet. Like most boys he’s very persistent, but the more he complained the more I was determined to put the "Monster In My Closet" business to bed fast before it became a nightly event. With every trip to his room I explained "There are no monsters in your closet," and each time he responded "Yes there are!"

After an hour of attempting to break down the wall between what is real and what is a make believe old man dressed up like a zombie, my son finally cried out "Well if it's not a monster then a toy is trying to get out of my closet". Finally I did the only thing I could do...I opened the closet...and screamed like a little girl as a very unhappy cat who had been trapped for a loooooong time lunged at me from the deepest dark of the closet. Needless to say, every night before bed we now check the closet just in case any monsters or kitty cats are hiding inside.

There was a time in this country when we could ignore the boy who cried wolf,  constantly sounding the alarm that trouble was at hand. Sadly those days are long gone as with each new school shooting committed by some deranged lunatic, we learn that yet another senseless act of violence could have been avoided had we taken the first warnings seriously. We can no longer afford to ignore those who dare to speak up in the middle of the night, telling them to pull the covers over their head and go back to sleep. Now more than ever it’s up to every citizen to be watchful of their surroundings at all times so that when the next terrorist decides to act, we don’t get caught pretending monsters aren’t real.

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First, our sincerest praise to David Isbell who assisted in freeing a trapped woman from a rapidly submerging vehicle. The TimesDaily featured Mr. Isbell in a story about the incident and quoted him as saying: 

"It was just (divine intervention), miraculous really, that her Jeep landed upright in the water and that she wasn't seriously hurt or worse."

So what did TD writer Lisa Singleton-Rickman change? Did she remove the name "God" from Isbell's comment? It would certainly be interesting to know...and to know if she was ordered to do so...

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The woman who almost died in the accident stated she was about to become a school bus driver. She also stated she was doing "only" 40 in a torrential downpour. Being terribly fond of the mantra "Old pilots, bold pilots," we suggest in a torrential downpour that one pull to the side of the road if possible. If not possible, a speed limit of 25 mph is a pretty safe bet. It beats drowning in Gnat Pond.