Sad Christmas Story

[North by Noreast]

Once upon a time, there was a man. He wanted what we all do. Peace, prosperity and good will. The man started a media company focused on his love of fish. There were websites, events and magazines. It was to be universal in appeal and he called it All Around.

The man loved to fish and now his business had grown to the point that it actually paid for what he loved to do, which was fish.

One day, as he and his crew were launching, a big shiny boat pulled up. The people didn't look like fishermen, which puzzled the man. They said, "We want to pay you to come with us." The man looked at the boat and thought this is too good to be true. Payed to do what we love. But they went along anyway.

They had a great day, they were fishing and catching. The man and his crew looked at each other and said, "Isn't this nice."

At the end of the day, the people from the shiny boat payed them and they went their own way. The men laughed at the fact that the people on the other boat didn't even fish.

This went on, time and time again. The men got fat and happy, never questioning the boat crew that didn't fish. Their friends warned them that something was wrong, but they went along anyway.

The media man decided that one day he wanted to run his own boat. He left the dock and headed out to his spot. As he approached, he saw the shiny boat. The people in the shiney boat said, "You can't fish here." The man said, "No problem, you have been good to us, we will go over there." The shiny boat people said, "You can't fish there either. These are MPA's now!"

The media man was puzzled, he had always fished these spots. There were plenty of fish. How could the people have betrayed him? He had been helpful to them and even approved their advertising in his media.

It was Christmas Eve and the man went home that day with his crew. They sat around the fire and told stories about their past trips out to the grounds. The man said, "Those were the days. Weren't they nice."

The man hesitated then said, "I just wish we knew those people planned on doing this to us from the beginning. We would have never gone along with them."