Update- the sub-prime Mortgage and Foreclosure Crisis in Ohio circa October 2008

Update- the sub-prime Mortgage and Foreclosure Crisis in Ohio
circa October 2008

fiction
edward w pritchard

Something unusual happened at this year's annual Banker's Association Picnic near Cleveland, Ohio a few months ago.

East of Cleveland, on a small branch of a major river, that emptied into Lake Erie, each year for the last century or so, the local Banker's Association in August holds it's annual picnic. The highlight of the event is the swimming because the water is deep and clear and a little colder than normal because Lake Erie is fed by North to south flowing waters from Canada.

The swimming area has a little grotto like wooden enclosure that once had been a lock on the Ohio Canal, that for a while, after the canal closed, had been modified for loading of boats eventually bound for the Oceans. Now however, there is a roof on the Grotto, and the enclosure resembles a shoe box with a top on it, with only one narrow opening assessing the River. Since there are hand rails just above the waterline from a previous usage in the Grotto, it was a fun place to swim and hangout at the Banker's Association annual picnic.

At this years picnic, when the Grotto was full of Bankers, their families, customers and guests, it became known, that a powerful polar bear had somehow entered the Grotto and was gracefully swimming at the junction of the River and the Grotto, effectively trapping 50 or so people in the rear of the cave like grotto with no way out.

The Polar bear was large, about 10 feet long, and had arms and legs about the size of a small man. The Polar Bear was calm and graceful and didn't bother anyone, but the Bear was becoming territorial and refused to let anyone in or out of the entrance, so although peaceful for now, the Polar Bear seemed capable of sudden power and violence if provoked.

Various people not in the water began to speculate on how the Polar Bear had come to be there, who if anyone was at fault [ if something terrible occurred], and if the Polar Bear was from California, across the oceans, or more likely from Canada.

Besides killing the Polar Bear outright, which would be dangerous if he was merely wounded, numerous proposals were discussed to rescue the people in the rear of the Cave. Because of the uniqueness of the situation and because no consensus on how to proceed could be reached, the fire departments and the police were called for help. First off, a few brave firemen and one ambitious newspaper reporter had jumped into the water swam very deep and stayed in rear of the cave to comfort the people there. Although most of the policeman were opposed to hurting the polar bear per se, several were given powerful rifles to monitor the Bear's movements with, should the Polar Bear approach the rear of the Cave to harm the people there.

The Banker's of course were in charge, and the consensus among the senior bankers was to bundle the people in the cave into groups so as to limit the losses, god forbid, should anything terrible happen. Additionally, largely through the efforts of local advocacy groups which brought the plight of the people in the cold water to the attention of the locally elected national politicians, at great expense, the federal government provided funds to pump heated water into the grotto. Also a way was devised to provide food and other amenities of life to the people in the water, clutching on to the hand rails, by the Mayor of Cleveland, who despite his humanitarian intentions, for some reason became vilified by some for his efforts, although it is probable that the people in the water appreciate both his intentions and efforts.

So that's the update, on the Polar Bear, in Northeastern Ohio, subtitled, Update- the sub-prime Mortgage and Foreclosure Crisis in Ohio circa October 2008, and to date no permanent solution has been found to rescue the people from the Bear, who in truth, is just doing what bears periodically do. As for the brave people in the water, most of them say, through the reporter, who occasionally is able to throw out a message in an empty bottle, that they were in the water purely by chance, and hoped that their plight would not be forgotten by those far away from Cleveland, Ohio.