Helping Capitalism

Woke up this morning with an angel from the Dark Side in my ear. “Look,” it said, “You once put yourself in mortal danger for the sake of big corporations like MacDonnell Douglas, Lockheed, United Technologies, Boeing, General Electric, Remington, and a slew of others.”

“To my eternal shame,” I said.

“General Dynamics,” it said. “Remember them?”

“Didn’t they make those planes that kept crashing?”

“Never mind,” it said. “The Boss is proud of you. You helped those corporations by going in harm’s way, right? Kept the economy going?"

“To my everlasting shame,” I said. Was that the second time I answered with that? I couldn’t remember.

“But now,” it said, “you won’t even go out and help your friends at the Mexican restaurant. Are you saying you did it for General Dynamics but you won’t do if for Jesús?”

He kinda had me there. I was still groggy and couldn’t quite think straight. “Go to hell,” I offered in way of debate.

“Can’t,” he said.

“And why not?” I was eager to change the subject and gain some time to think.

“Remodeling going on down there.”

“Say what?”

“His Excellency is expecting a big influx. We’re going to be, as someone close to you said, ‘busting at the seams’ in a short while.”

“Say what?” I had him completely distracted now.

“Haven’t you noticed people in high places who are refusing to wear masks?”

“Ahh.”

“But you need to go out and do your part.”

“I’ll do that the day Jesús starts producing fighter planes,” I said.

That left him scratching his horns.