The Greenhouse Effect
Don’t throw rocks from a glass house is what is shouted and screamed from Vito B’s mansion. Here is a man who built one of the most elaborate and beautiful mansions in the whole state. Every room personally designed by Vito B himself. He decorated the halls designed the bathrooms, kitchen, rooms, garage, and dining room. A beauty to instill jealousy and admiration. When the Christmas season comes around people from all around the state talk and converse about who’s mansion is best and who has the most amount of decorations and how keenly placed those decorations are. Vito B’s mansion has always been one of the most talked about and respected mansions. The other mansions in the state may be beautiful and may also be full of grandeur but they were built on sacred ground with workers from other parts of the state and some from out of state. Those palace owners didn’t and have never cared about their employees’ and that was one of the many things that set Vito B’s mansion apart from all others. His workers were loyal and had been bred by him. He cared for them and worried about their future. Vito B saw to it that they understood loyalty, family, and honor. He would angrily finger point at those other mansions and accuse them of impropriety. He hated the fact that they did not acquire the right permits and got away with slave labor without any repercussions.
Those other mansion owners bragged about how they built their houses without the rights and legal permits nor employees. Cocky and proud they were about how wealth and power could circumvent the most rigid of laws and regulations. Proud they stood holding the end of the year trophy given to the best mansion and palace in the state. Accusations flew from one corner of the state to the other and they smiled it off. In private they would excuse their methods by stating, ‘their parents wanted those kids to work for me, what was I going to say , their getting well paid, they are getting better opportunities, they are getting better benefits, they are seeking to better their standing in the world we are just helping, their education comes first.’ Snarling, Vito B hated those people and the many trophies they took from him and his solidly built mansion.
The Greenhouse Effect Pt. II
When you start such a massive building project like a greenhouse, the first couple of years there are workers coming in and out of your mansion. Skilled craftsmen and specialist working on specific areas in the greenhouse. Some working on lightweight stuff, others maybe middle of the ground but in general people see and notice the massive work being done in the mansion and the annex being built. Dirt, sand, mud, garbage, and fired former employees fired and dismissed fill the streets and the local coffee shops begin the chatter. They begin to question, ‘did Vito B get the right permits? did he acquire the correct paperwork?’. Most just wonder why he would start such a project now when his mansion is already grandiose and the fame of his palace well known. Does he really need such a massive greenhouse? Word gets back to Vito B and shocked he wonders, ‘who me? What? No way.’ He finds out what people are saying and angrily screams, ‘hey you guys also have windows to.’ ‘You shouldn’t throw rocks from a glass house’. He blindly compares his massive project to that of his smaller neighbors and their home improvement projects. You guys had a window built in your home a couple of years ago. I never complained about your window, I was happy with the improvement. I didn’t send anyone after you nor did I cajole anyone into questioning your permits to install that window. I had nothing to do with the inspectors harassing your home and videotaping your projects even if it hampered my view at the time. Angrily Vito B questions why his own friends and comrades have turned against him or why they would seem so unhappy at his new project. There is no real need for them to get angry he thinks to himself. It’s not like they really have a shot at winning the end of the year trophy. Their houses are small and really can’t compete. Hell they hired a craftsman here and there, they are no better than I. Oh how wrong you are Vito B, how very wrong you are.
He sends his best friend in the world to seek out answers and defend his building of the greenhouse. His friend angrily and logically defends Vito B and explains why those employees came to Vito B’s mansion and are now working for him.
Tell us if this sounds familiar:
“**In private they would excuse their methods by stating, ‘their parents wanted those kids to work for me, what was I going to say , their getting well paid, they are getting better opportunities, they are getting better benefits, they are seeking to better their standing in the world we are just helping, their education comes first.**”
The Greenhouse Effect Pt. III
In a couple of years people won’t notice the greenhouse. They will just consider it part of the landscape as well as part of the biggest, best, most decorated mansion in the state. His minions will be carefully chosen from his greenhouse and used in different parts of the house. A little lavender here, a rose there, a couple of carnations in the front, and maybe a cactus here and there just to add some bite to the mansion. His believed former friends long gone and the chatter in coffee shops now quelled and silent, Vito B begins to hoard trophies and awards. He even begins to get national recognition for the sheer beauty of his mansion. The only thing that now is different is that his desire to better his employees and his undying effort to help them is long gone. No longer are relationships developed thru time and the fires of trouble. Now he has become that which he has always hated. An overseer who simply guides his workers and when the job is done for that year discards them effortlessly and goes to his greenhouse to get another bunch.
Happy and content he will be after he weathers this storm. He might just end up being the most decorated and successful palace owner this state has ever seen. An honor many may see as well deserved but don’t expect former friends and colleagues to jump for joy while exclaiming his greatness. Don’t compare a window here and there to a greenhouse. Don’t stammer and jerk and coerce people into agreeing with you. Don’t spout angry words of comparison and don’t throw shout out ‘don’t throw rocks from a glasshouse’. These are simply not the same things. Remember well that most of the new employees were with you and your family over the summer going here and there doing this and that. A couple of build it yourself workshops here and there where all participated in. Get angry at your people and scream injustice and spew hatred from your lips. Know this, Vito B is still admired and cared for, he is still considered a friend and a colleague just don’t expect the people of this county to sit quietly and not be displeased or even angry at your greenhouse project. Open the subject up and the displeasure will always come up. Talk or defend the project and anger will rise. Compare and contrast the different building techniques and disgust will be evident. Maybe in the future a hearty congratulation will be in order but Vito B would be ignorant to think that ANYONE within a stone’s throw of his palace will be happy. Vito B and his buddy should know that nobody really cares anymore. No one seeks to dethrone him and take his place. Just don’t bring up the subject and defend it with pious words and righteous indignation. That just makes Vito B look like the other palace builders and mansion owners. And that is not Vito B. It has never been him.
End of Story.
