Life as a Circus?

I've never been to a traditional traveling Circus, with trapeze artists, elephants, tigers and smart dogs.

I probably should have, because after nearly 150 years of consistent performance, the iconic Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus, also known as the “Greatest Show on Earth” will be performing its final act on Sunday.

The mere evocation of the word circus brings back to my memory some remarks by Kip Pitou, a ski industry associate, towards Look bindings, my employer, back in the late 70s. Our business was struggling, we had a succession of general managers who failed to make the cut and at times, our little organization looked as if it were in turmoil.

That's when Mr. Pitou, whom we paid to provide us distribution services, nastily told me on several occasions: “If we'd put a tent over Look, we could sell tickets”, meaning that the company I worked for was a real circus.

 

Today, I'm tempted to paraphrase these harsh words when I look at the Trump White House, thinking that if we could find a tent large enough to cover it, we certainly could sell enough tickets to repay our National Debt!