Facebook makes its public play. How much do you think the social network is worth? In this post, we'll continue to explore how the personal actions of one unknown man changes history. Our man in the straw hat somehow manages to redefine how we experience the past, the present, and probably our future. Is that what cultural change is?
In our last real life episode we left the man riding herd with a somewhat famous friend on a rioting mob in a rowdy border town. As they do, things sometimes go from bad to worse. This can be opportunity.
Desperados unfortunately don’t appear to come to their senses all that often without a good bit of convincing and conviction. They gang up and take what they like from whom and wherever they are. We know that they’ve got their reasons. That’s why Doolin and Dalton is a reprise. Be it bank, stage, or train it often looks easier to take than build, raise, and reap. As the Eagles lament that bad behavior got them hunted down by the “Guardsmen”.
The good also team up like Three Amigos for a running pursuit. Time is short. Life is not quite a comedy. The three run down the Wild Bunch and many of the less notorious. The contest of wills is played out in a land of endless hills, new small towns growing into larger ones, and soon to be oil and gas-powered cities in a vast windblown emptiness.
The US Marshal’s Real Deal
The bad guys are wanted Dead or Alive? But there’s legal fine print. The Bounty Hunter and those who Have Gun Will Travel know there always is. There is the Rule of Law. Dead may often pay you less than nothing. Dead can get you listed on those posters, caught, tried and convicted yourself. Usually the real deal is Alive and Convicted. This makes all the difference. You get them. You keep them. That often is more than half the battle. The local law enforcement and judiciary may be on the other side or may actually be the other side. Gang warfare and politics is nothing new. One man’s rustler is another’s hero.
The black hats are caught, tried, and convicted and only then do the white hats get paid. Meanwhile, it’s only a pittance in travel pay, short rations, and a lot of time away from home. That doesn’t make for a happy wife. They tell that hunting Doolin and capturing him all alone cost the man three years. Note that the address below is probably the marshal's "home" office.
In the end this remorseless pursuit of purpose paid him nothing and less than nothing.
Before his conviction Bill Doolin escaped from the jail of others and lived to Die Another Day.
The man's dying wife divorces him and returns home to die in her mother’s arms not his.
Who could write a script like this?
Who is that man?
He is Legend
To do this civil service without killing and without getting killed is beyond art. To do it for decades is the stuff of legend. He does this better and gets paid more and more often than anyone who ever lived.
Bat Masterson another more "famous" man in the white hat says, “He was the greatest of us all.”
Who is that guy?
It’s Good Press When The Important People Notice
Presidents notice and are aptly curious as to how this human magic and sleight of hand is performed. He can honestly joke about being just a 1/16th of a second faster or maybe just luckier than the other guy. However, after decades of doing this he’s only had to shoot a few. Some say only two. Both men and women whom he captures from their lives of folly claim he personally saved them from a life without redemption. There’s more to this lawman’s act than hand-speed, steely eyes, false bravado, and reputation. Considerable powers of practiced persuasion are at work.
His Life Makes Great Movies for a Reason
We now know from many movies Presidents actually have few people to turn to when they need those special tasks done that require a certain form of genius. This story is based on his fact not the fiction of others. Here’s the plot you’ve seen before on Turner Classic Movies in more than a few famous forms.
That famous President who led the charge needs this man brought back from another country.
“The bad guy stole a great deal of money. We need him alive, tried, and convicted here. We’ve been looking for him for many years. We still don’t know exactly where he is. It’s an embarrassment. I will give you a letter that should get you the help of the country’s government. Would you do this?”
Even a President famous for his courage wouldn’t dare ask this man, “Can you do this?”
We all know what happens next. He accepts. He pays a respectful and polite visit to the other country’s presidente. He presents the letter and explains his reason for his visit to this country. The presidente offers to help.
He politely declines.
An army of deputies at this point would only slow him down and tip off the hunted. He finds the hunted man living in a small town protected by a private army of his own.
He rides in alone at dawn. He rides out at dusk 5 days later with the surrendered man in cuffs. No shot is fired. He makes a bee-line for the border with the honey. He simply brings the lost and found home to trial.
Cut. Cut. Cut. Wait a minute. That won’t do at all. We need more action - give me a more explosive ending. Who is this man?
“He’d charge into Hell with a bucket.” answers the President.
Come to Your Senses
Here is AutoCAD Civil 3D land we have to recognize that there are ALWAYS many players involved. Politics is a bitch. Office or interoffice politics can self-destruct all your best efforts at a reasonable solution to a apparent technical problem. Obviously any technical solution exists to resolve human problems, but we may preceive "the problem" differently from others. That can put you unintentionally on the losing side.
The man in the hat somehow learns to turn the minds of violent men from envy, revenge and lust to a higher purpose. This always requires persistance.
This requires the he is honest about what in needed and he is willing to make personal sacrifices to accomplish that higher purpose.
At times this involves quick inventive action to meet the unexpected needs of others.
That sometimes gets us recognized, but don't let instant sucess go to your head.
That can get you and others killed.
Often the ongoing implementation and development tasks require considerable honest debate to root out what is REALLY needed to move on successfully.
Systematic methods are necessary for your success, because even if you waste effort (it's going to happen) that way will pay off down the line with more flexibility.
Do you plan and build your Civil 3D styles and Civil 3D templates to deal with the unexpected?
Are your project Dynamic Models designed and structured with change in mind?
Does your posse know what to do when things go wrong?
It is going to happen in this project or the next.
Trust me.
Can you test yourself and your firm?
Are your Wanted Dead or Alive posters visible?
Is there payment of a just reward?
Links to all the Man is the Straw Hat posts