Do you see that big hulking tree growing there? Look down at the way its bulging roots have fractured and all but destroyed our once beautiful sidewalk. How many times have you tripped over those jagged cracks and crevices? How many times have you asked “Why won’t someone do something about that damned tree?” But let’s pretend there was no sidewalk. How would you know how to get from point A to point B? Sure, we can assume some sort of a pathway would eventually form that would serve just as well… But would you not still trip over those massive protruding roots along the way? But if there was no sidewalk forcing you in all its concrete certitude on a journey by mandate of its own undeniable and unyielding discretion, would not a new path form? A path with all likelihood naturally circumventing those mighty roots, and perhaps even providing opportunities for all new pathways to develop, offering forth new and unexpected journeys and unforetold adventures?

Alas, instead, let us simply cut out and rip away those roots and rebuild that faithful familiar sidewalk. Better yet, let’s just play it safe and do away with the whole tree altogether - so we might never be forced to fret and fear for the sanctity of our preciously pristine and sacred sidewalk ever again.