It’s best to obey the law and not be a rule breaker

FROM MY FRONT PORCH

It’s best to obey the law and not be a rule breaker

SAM HOUSTON

Sam Houston is the publisher of the Hood County News. He is also an actor, author, playwright, performer and entertainment producer/promoter.

Our family vacations in my youth involved traveling to where the grandparents lived and going camping.  It was quite an experience and something I looked forward to in excited anticipation. My father knew an old farmer who had land adjoining the Chariton River and he would allow us to camp on his property. No state parks for us! We were out in the middle of nowhere which is right where we wanted to be.

When the family set up camp, there were tents to be erected, firewood to be gathered, latrines to be dug, and a host of other chores and activities to undertake. Looking back, it took a lot of work, but it was something the entire family enjoyed. We fished and swam during the day, played cards, and during the evening we would sit around the firepit and roast marshmallows or chase lightning bugs. There was no TV and of course no phones, but we did have a radio so we could hear the weather and the Cardinals baseball game. Each night my grandparents would drive over to have dinner with us and then join us as we sat around the fire and traded stories.

While we did fish with rods and reels, my dad also enjoyed setting bank and trotlines to catch catfish. We would get in the aluminum canoe and go down the river, baiting the lines and checking to see if we had caught any fish since the last time we had “run our lines.” Most of the time we were successful, and it was not unusual to catch three or four nice catfish each time we checked.

Of course, to catch fish we had to have bait, so we seined for minnows. Seining is the process of having a big vertical net with sinkers along one edge and floats on the other edge, with a couple of long poles attached to the ends. We would walk into a shallow part of the river and while Dad grabbed one end of the net, I would grab the other.  We would walk through the water for a short distance and then lift the net to hopefully find we had caught a generous quantity of minnows. The minnows we caught were then used as bait for our fishing lines. I thought seining was as much fun as fishing because you never knew what you might catch. There could be a turtle or even a snake mixed in with the minnows.

During one episode of seining, we lifted the net and found we had managed to corral four little catfish. They were maybe 4 inches long. I immediately said to my dad, “Look Dad, baby catfish! Let’s put them in the bucket and have Granddad take them to his place and put them in his pond.” Granddad had a small tank and I had visions of stocking the pond with fish, giving them a chance to grow, and catching them at some future time.

My dad replied to my inquiry by saying, “Son, that would be against the law. The state wildlife code says you must return any fish under six inches in length to the water immediately upon catching it.” I heard what my father had said, and I immediately started searching for excuses.

“But Dad, it is not like we are going to eat the fish, or kill them, we are just going to transport them to water in a different location. What could be the harm? No one will catch us.”

Dad nodded his head and said, “I understand what you’re thinking, son, but we would be breaking the law, and that makes it wrong. If a man starts rationalizing, he can always come up with an excuse to not follow the rules. It is best to simply do what the law requires. Once a man finds he can break the law and get away with it, it makes it that much easier to cross the line and break the law in another situation. Where does it stop?”

As Dad released the small fish back into the river, I shook my head seeing my dream of stocking Granddad’s pond fly out the window. All I could think of was, what a waste!

I never knew my father to break the law or attempt to work around it. I never saw him not follow a rule. To him, adherence was a citizen’s responsibility. It was what made society work.  It took me a few years and a few practical lessons to realize the power of my father’s words.

Unfortunately, it seems like there are people in our society who do not think rules apply to them. They spend the bulk of their time trying to twist the law to their advantage. The ends seem to justify the means. It happens every day, and we often witness the turmoil it creates.

Like my wise father said, once it starts, when does it stop?

Thought for the day: I busted a mirror and got seven years bad luck. My lawyer thinks he can get it down to five.

Until next time.

sam@hcnews.com | 817-573-7066, ext. 260