Story Bazaar

The Do-Gooder

"I admire his commitment to purpose; but, I can't stand him..."

Those words were said by the richest man in town, Jack Herrington... I responded:

"Well, he's never been disrespectful to me..."

"Sam Jaffe, you're a tavern owner---what's he got to be up in arms about with you? Give me another whiskey... Does he come in here?"

"Naw, I seen him around---shops and all..."

"Well, I just can't trust a man goes out of his way to show off how holy he is..."

"Holy, Mr. Herrington? I've never seen him be that way..."

"Well... He better stay clear of me since that ruckus with the homeless folk..."

"What harm'd he do you, Sir? He took 'em all in under his own roof..."

"I'm going to make sure the zoning board goes after him---illegal boarding-house or some such..."

"Why you got it in for him so bad?"

"Because... Any man does that much getting out of his own way can't be trusted---it's unnatural."

"It's only what the Church tells us..."

"The Church!? Bunch of hypocrites!"

"Mr. Hobsworth ain't no hypocrite---he surely believes, deep down, what he does..."

"Ain't natural---folks have to look out for themselves---what's he going to do, help other folks so much he dies doing it?"

"And, what if he does, Mr. Herrington? What if he does?"

"You challenging me, Sam Jaffe!?"

"I'm just standing up for a really good man..."

"You poor fool... You'll see who knows what's right... I'm going to see him in jail or, at least run out of town."

"Mr. Herrington, that just ain't right!"

"You sure you want my business, Sam; or, you want my guns trained on you too?"

"Well... If it comes down to that, I'd say you're the one can't be trusted, not Mr. Hobsworth..."

"What!?!"

"You heard me, Sir..."

"And, you've lost my business!"

Jack Herrington walked out of Sam's tavern and began a campaign to deter folks from patronizing it.

Interesting thing about it all---folks loved Sam and Sam drummed up his own campaign to raise funds to help Mr. Hobsworth in his moral undertakings...

Mr. Herrington pushed hard, with lawyers, to subjugate the feared do-gooder...

The judge in the case wasn't a patron at Sam Jaffe's tavern---he wasn't in the pocket of Jack Herrington---he wasn't ignorant of the law and its purpose.

The richest man in town spent four months of house arrest for Vindictive Harassment...

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