As I left the Neenah Council chambers I came upon Alderman Marge Bates, bless her heart, trying to explain to Jake the rooster's owner, Mr. Rocke, her reasoning for voting to take Jake away. In my commentary on the Public Services & Safety Committee meeting of January 27th, I was pretty hard on Mr. Rocke. My opinion hasn't changed.
Why? Because Mr. Rocke said to Bates that "You've done nothing about the issue...the local radio stations are coming out this Saturday and they're recording it on CD and they're dubbing it a thousand times and I'll sit on my front lawn and play it all day long."
"Dubbing it a thousand times"... He was referring to Jake the rooster's crowing. Do you think the local radio stations are coming at Mr. Rocke's request? Might he be paying for the thousand CDs? I guess he'll have plenty of CDs as backups. When he wears out one from sitting on his front lawn and playing it all day long, he can simply toss it out and pop another into his CD player. I hope that his patients won't mind his sabbatical to stage this sit-down protest.
"You've done nothing about the issue." He was right there in the Council chambers while the Council deliberated. I can't imagine what he thought they were doing when they voted to amend the chicken coop ordinance. Roosters make objectionable noise; therefore, no more roosters. Sounds like they dealt with the issue to me.
Unless he meant that the neighborhood feud is the issue. That may very well be. Things are going to be unpleasant between the Rockes and the Cranes ever after.
Mr. Rocke's idea of protesting the Council's decision is to sit on his front lawn and play rooster crows all day long. That'll show 'em. Just trade one nuisance for another. Have to keep up the nuisance quota somehow.