Sheep Dogs

 I remember being quite little; I was in with a small herd of children. We were making our way from class to class in some childhood school setting, and there were hall monitors. I don't recall if the monitors were other teachers, or just selected students who had somehow demonstrated leadership abilities. Then again, maybe they were just little snitches, and the adults had picked up on that.

As I grew, I could see the various aspects of society utilizing the same system. The military had their own way of ferreting out the snitches. If there were some infraction discovered, they would simply punish everyone, until the culprit showed themselves.

Within the civilian workforce they were easy to spot. They always dressed to fit in, they were aggressive, but lacked the ability to make it on their own. They had to make someone else look bad in order to make themselves appear to be the better choice.

Now that I have joined the walker brigade, the monitors keeping us in line are heart monitors. They are strapped right to us, barking whenever we get out of line. There is an invisible tether going to a bank of monitors where snitches sit for hours watching our bleeps and blips.

I'm not sure I understand the importance of keeping the herd together. Albert Einstein was a stray, as was Ben Franklin.
Bob Dylan certainly strayed from the pack. I think it's our strays that help to form our culture. They lend a persona to an otherwise directionless, wandering mass of sheep.

Sorry.  Was that out of line?