LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: MOUSETRAPS CAN CATCH A LOT MORE THAN JUST MICE

To the editor:

There was this man who invented a better mousetrap. As the story goes, people beat a path to his door.

I visualize him living in a rural setting where there were no neighbors close by, if any.

But that quickly changed. There came so much traffic that it no longer was a path. Roads had to be built so people could get some of those super mousetraps. This man's simple life in a simple, offbeat area really changed. In fact, people decided to camp out there. Then others pulled their trailers and began to live thereabouts. Soon there were some who built their houses there. As time went on, many others followed and built houses. They told others of this great place to live that was good for their kids.

But there were no schools close by. That didn't stop them. They organized their neighbors to build a small school. That was a great move at least for the time being. As others discovered this lovely, peaceful community with a school for their kids, there those who had another child and another. The small school needed to be enlarged. This kept the little community on edge trying to please everyone and their needs. As the kids got big and higher learning was required, the group had to shell out more and more, even if they didn't have any children of school age.

As the community and all the many needs grew, the people had to support its needs. And there were many such needs: security, tax collectors, banks, medical facilities plus any and all that come with the package.

The moral: Building a better mousetrap can catch a lot of things you never dreamed of. Or, the trap needs to be super enough to trap things other than mice.

LOU VARRO

Cape Girardeau