I always thought the problem was that it was free.

You tend to get what you pay for.

Seriously, the fact is that you do have to sort through a lot of BS, but pearls do exist if you look hard enough.

It is unfortunate, though, that somebody might hold back and not offer that pearl.

Which is kind of strange considering the avocation we indulge in. I mean, just how hypersensitive is someone supposed to be who can happily hog butcher a deer?

I'm reminded of a friend of my Uncle's, who got the silver star in Korea as a sergeant of marines for hauling out his wounded platoon mates one at a time over 600 yards of exposed terrain to safety.

He literally got his ass shot off. I've never been afforded the opportunity of contemplating it at my leisure, but I'm told it isn't pretty. He spent over a year in the hospital recovering. To this day he won't wear shorts as one of his legs is just a thin stick with a knot in the middle for a knee. Which isn't too much of an issue now as the guy's in his late 70s.

But he exposed himself repeatedly to enemy fire in order to save his shipmates. I'm under the impression he's not exactly shy.

But public speaking? He won't do it.

Confronting screaming hordes of rabidly murderous CHICOM infantry? Doable!

Confronting the possibility of tripping over your tongue at the Masonic Lodge? Not doable!

The thing is, I never learned about the guy when it might have possibly done me some good because he just never talked. It was only later, at my Uncle's funeral, and at the point I was about to retire from the Navy, that I found out a close family friend was a bonafide hero. Written up in the newspapers and everything. His silver star citation is posted on several internet sites.

I keep wondering how much else I'm not hearing because people won't talk.