Letter of the Day (March 25): A modern Minnesota mythology

Moving the Legislature to do practical things is like rolling a rock uphill.

March 24, 2014 at 11:12PM
BoRichard TsongTaatarii/rtsongtaatarii@startribune.com Minneapolis, MN;02/16/11;left to right ] City of Minneaplis public works worker Bob Koch applied a "cold patch" of asphalt to fill in a hole 31st Av in Uptown. He said it was a temporary fix. The patch seals itself as cars roll over it. ORG XMIT: MIN2014032414542751
BoRichard TsongTaatarii/rtsongtaatarii@startribune.com Minneapolis, MN;02/16/11;left to right ] City of Minneaplis public works worker Bob Koch applied a "cold patch" of asphalt to fill in a hole 31st Av in Uptown. He said it was a temporary fix. The patch seals itself as cars roll over it. ORG XMIT: MIN2014032414542751 (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Remember Sisyphus? The guy fated to roll a boulder up a hill forever? Last week I saw him behind an asphalt truck, filling potholes. When I asked why he wasn't rolling his boulder anymore, he leaned on his shovel and replied, "The gods said that they didn't really understand how gravity works, so there was a chance the boulder might just float away someday and I would be released from my torment. But they definitely understand how the Minnesota Legislature works. And since a long-term solution to road and bridge repair would require honesty and political courage, the gods are certain that I'm now doomed to suffer for eternity!"

"Aren't we all?" I muttered as I drove on to Wisconsin to buy beer at a grocery store on Sunday.

Mike Farris, Northfield
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