Running With the Big Dogs: A Modern Day Parable

Tim -- not his real name -- is the son of one of my friends. His story shows where our country could be headed, for good or for ill.

Tim is a bright and sociable guy. He's struggled with a learning disability, but he's developed tools for organization and learning. It takes more time and work, but you'd never know about his challenges to talk to him.

Tim eventually graduated from college, and looked for a job teaching elementary school. He found one teaching kindergarten in a northern, snow-bound state.

He took to it like a politician to tax money. Many of his kids had challenges of various kinds. Tim understood their struggles, because they were so similar to his own -- struggles that he still had. He was often working past 7 o'clock to compensate for his learning disability.

But compensate he did, and he loved teaching. His students began to excel, and the other kindergarten teachers -- entrenched union members who did only what they were required to do by contract -- began to make Tim's life difficult.

The kids loved Tim, and so did their parents. Some of the parents of students in the other classes began to ask the school administration how they could get their under-performing child into Tim's class.

The major event of the winter social calendar in this small town was the dog sled race. Tim had never been in a dog sled race, but he was an athlete. As the new guy in town, he decided to enter the race.

The race began, and the dogs leapt forward, straining at their harnesses, pulling the sleds with grown men on them. As they ran, Tim realized that the dogs would run much faster if they did not have to pull his weight.

Still holding the handles of the sled, he jumped behind it and began to run with the dogs. They pulled ahead.

For four miles, Tim ran with his dogs behind the sled. He won.

Tim's still teaching, and I don't know if his least-possible-effort colleagues have cut him any slack yet. They're probably sore at him for making life so easy on those dogs.

Tim represents what's wonderful about America: determined, committed and passionate, he never expects others to pull his weight for him.

I'm sorry he left Ohio. We could use a few more like him.