The best of times, the worst of times...........

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. Charles Dickens said it first, well over a century ago, and here in Independence Missouri those words ring with a superlative truthfulness even today. Times are hard, it's rough out there. If you think I'm exaggerating take a gander at this Craigslist ad a reader emailed to me over the weekend.

PARENTS TRADING 15 YR OLD SONS CIGS Date: 2009-09-04, 10:36PM

I WAS GOING THRU MY 15 YEAR OLD SONS ROOM SUSPICIOUS OF HIS BEHAVIOR LATELY. UPON MY SURPRISE ( maybe not a surprise since i was suspicious) I FOUND A PACK OF NEWPORT SHORTS IN A BOX UNOPENED. 3 DAYS LATER I FOUND A PACK WITH 17 REMAINING. I SEE NO SINCE IN THROWING THEM AWAY SINCE THEY ARE SO EXPENSIVE AND DEFINITLY NOT REFUNDING HIS MONEY. SINCE I DO SUPPORT HIM EVERYDAY AND BEING IM A SMOKER MYSELF AND DONT SMOKE THIS KIND I WILL TRADE YOU THIS FULL PACK AND 17 CIGS OF NEWPORT SHORTS IN THE BOX FOR I FULL UNOPENED PACK OF MARLBORO100S IN A BOX. ID REQUIRED
Location: INDEPENDENCE
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Seriously, real ad, and I have no idea where to begin. Kudos to this frugal parent for not letting those heavily mentholated cigs go to waste. I want all of my readers to drop what they are doing, and go shake down your kids rooms. Should you find any Marlboro lights, or hippy lettuce, send me an email and I'll come take those off of your hands. Just don't try to pawn any crappy Newports off on me.

Doctor Evil, aka President Obama, will be indoctrinating the nations impressionable minds later today. With all the hoopla that has preceded his speech, I fully expect to see the school bus discharge Zombies out front of my house today. I've electrified my chain link fence, put plywood over the windows, and nailed Rush Limbaugh posters to the large pin oaks in the front yard. I hear the image of Rush will repel most liberally minded zombies, which is what these kids will probably become after being subjected to all that crazy commie talk, like stay in school, and mind your parents.

Finally on a serious note. The parents of a 7 year old boy got married at his funeral in New York. The boy died as the result of a chain reaction car wreck. Mom and Dad decided to get married to honor their sons wishes. He had been after them to get hitched for some time prior to his death. They also donated his organs. I saw a brief clip on CNN this morning, and I have to admit it made my throat get a little tight. My initial reaction was that it seemed a little strange to have a wedding/funeral. You have to admit, it's not something you hear of everyday. Two parents lose their child, could there be anything worse? They take that dark moment in their lives, and give life to strangers through organ donation, and honor their child by making his wish come true. Best of times, worst of times. Indeed.