folks, you must read this..

That's certainly an interesting take on an old fable! In my opinion - which I KNOW isn't shared by Ted...lol - this is unfairly stereotyping many if not most grasshoppers and overestimating some ants. There are some grasshoppers who are lazy and irresponsible and spend the whole summer having fun, depending on the ants to take care of him come winter but there are far more grasshoppers who aren't able to have that much fun in the summer for one reason or another. In many cases the grasshopper has spent many of his own summers working very hard and doing everything he could to be prepared for the winter but now he's fallen on tough times. Sometimes his tough times were partly caused by an ant who became wealthy by stepping on him. Now, there are plenty of ants who are more than willing to give some grasshoppers a helping hand and to help them get back on their feet but there are far too many grasshoppers in need and too few ants who are willing to help. There was a time when the ants and the grasshoppers were able to live together and help each other but now sometimes the grasshoppers become isolated from the ants and they can't find their way back to where help is available. These grasshoppers don't want to take the ants' homes or to get anything for free; they'd just like a hand up to help them to be able to get just a little of what the ants have. Some of those grasshoppers have given a lot to the ants to get them where they are today but some of the ants aren't willing to give anything back at all. Some of them even feel the world would be better off without any grasshoppers at all. Annie

Nice rewrite of a very old story. I especially liked the gang of spiders who terrorized the neighborhood. I think I have some of those living behind the garage.

Ain't it the truth. every one seems to want something for nothing.

Thanks Wmraul, I did enjoy it! I'm also entertained by the apparent stereotyping in many of the comments. In the fable, the ant isn't necessarily a left winger and the grasshopper isn't representing people who work hard, but still can't make ends meet. However, that is how some MyLotters read it. It's interesting that they automatically came to the defense of the grasshopper, making him something not ever mentioned in the fable. The other stereotype I'm entertained by is of myself (and others on the right). Apparently, since we are against government take over of charity, we are somehow against charity at all. We are somehow cold hearted rascals who would rather see someone die than lift a finger to help. Most who follow my articles here at MyLot know my background in service to others. Most would picture me as the lone conservative surrounded by all the liberals who respond to the various disasters and emergency situations. The fact is, the cross section is pretty much the same as that of the US. There are conservatives, liberals, moderates... but just like America, most there are pretty politically apathetic. What we want is the same thing we want for everyone... freedom of choice and the government to do it's Constitutionally mandated jobs. Instead of "From everyone according to their means, to everyone according to their needs" WE want the freedom to decide what is our means and what needs we want to help others with. The vile and government welfare system cannot be done without force, threats and blatant discrimination. It is institutionalized bigotry. It leaves the government the sole arbitor of what needs have to be met and what a person's excess might be. You simply cannot have government welfare without giving the government the authority to decide what is best for the people. You can't have government welfare without creating a totalitarian society where the government is the judge of right and wrong. It is satanic.

Hi, your link doesn't work

Haha. That was very funny. =) That's discrimination. Just because the ant is small doesn't mean you can take his house... The ant should have gotten his thousands of ant friends to overthrow the government and recapture his house.