illiland Citizens' Opinion

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

An interesting subject came up when the Baron met with his chief advisor, Professor Hamblin, and Lady Angela of Alpine Castle. The subject was regarding how they were doing as a country. Was the royal family really caring enough about the welfare of the country?

The Baron felt that he was surrounded with typical “yes” people who said whatever they thought the Baron wanted to hear. It would seem disrespectful if it were accurate. As long as it made the Baron feel good, it was the right answer. But the Baron didn’t want that at all.

The Professor said that the only true way of finding out what the people were thinking was to be there in person. The three of them, plus three trusted members of the staff, would disguise themselves as ordinary visitors or citizens and listen politely to what the people were really saying.

The Baron liked the plan and they disguised themselves and went into town separately to find out what they could. They did this for several days and made notes regarding the topics and comments they heard. No names were taken because they were not spying upon anyone. All they wanted from the survey was about what the people typically discussed.

At the end of the survey, the topics were tabulated and a list was made.

The typical topics were:

1. The weather in general
2. The sporting activities of the day that they had planned
3. How often they came to Lilliland for their vacation
4. Where they came from and what their profession was
5. Their children and their pets
6. Seafood ‘catch of the day’ served at the Fish House Restaurant
7. Who runs this country anyway?

When the list was read, both the Professor and Lady Angela looked at the Baron to see what he thought about it. Was he happy, sad, or what?

The Baron said that the results were fine. Too many royal families in Europe were ousted because they lost the respect of the common citizens.

“One small disappointment,” the Baron added. “I would have liked to have been listed ahead of the ‘catch of the day.’” Everyone smiled.

But all-in-all, everything was fine for now.