Thinking Out of the Flocks

A couple of weeks ago I turned on my Sears "portable" black and white TV while making a late dinner after class. KMSP's Fox 9 News at 9 PM was playing. My two favorite anchors, Jeff Passolt and Robin Robinson, were reporting on an injured goose limping around the station parking lot. I know how difficult those slow news weeks are and I can sympathize. I once wrote an entire column about my collection of cheese spreaders purchased at various dollar stores. I enjoyed the close-up of the goose holding its hurt foot up close to its belly and the heart-warming ending when the station called a vet to attend to the goose. I wonder if the station payed for the goose's care just to make a news story. Not to be cynical, but the goose was still ambulatory. It was just limping a little, and anyway, geese are so common now in the metro area that people are starting to consider them pests. Of course, I'm a sucker for any animal story, so even if Channel 9 did pay for the goose's care to beef up their slow news night, I can't say I mind.