Steve

Dennis worked hard through high school. Although athletic and artisic, he chose to work a part-time job instead of participating in many extracurriculars. He wanted to go to college. He married his high school sweetheart who worked while he attended the state university. He opted for and worked his way through dental school and opened a practice in his home town. Dennis and his family sacrificed much as he built the business. All their hard work was finally paying off.

Dennis and several of his professional contacts decided to give back to their community by opening a free clinic in a vacant city building in a poorer section of town. Many were benefiting from their free services

Libby (unabashed), a single mother with 3 small children, had for some time suffered with a painfully bad tooth. She was ecstatic to learn about the clinic's free services and came in for treatment. Dennis diagnosed the situation and was glad that he would be able to totally remedy the suffering immediately and in just one visit.

As Dennis worked to prepare the tooth for treatment, Libby suddenly clamped down hard. Her incisors tore into his right index finger as he screamed, "Oowwarggh, goddammit, leggo, girl!!" He jerked back his hand, minus the severed index, and immediately applied pressure to stop the bleeding. He wondered what the hell might be going on as he called 911 for assistance.

After a thorough investigation, the D.A. did not charge Libby, as she had the Constitutional right to do whatever she wanted within her own body. Dennis, however, was in deep doo-doo. His offenses were quite serious. His office exclamation gave the appearance of anger and his use of the term 'girl' was insensitve and sexist. It was also found that he attempted to convert Libby to Christianity on government owned property. He was placed on probation, fined, and ordered to undergo anger management therapy and sensitivity training at his own expense. Since Libby had chosen to keep the finger, Dennis was ordered to pay monthly finger support. Both he and the finger, nicknamed Tippy, had to be tested for HIV regularly.

The public outcry was immediate. Large groups of picketers marched before to clinic and the courthouse. Newspaper headlines and editorials screamed out in protest. They all loudly wondered, "Why?" Why did that judge give Dennis probation and not hard prison time? He had better give up any aspirations for an appointment to any higher court. He must be sucking up to his rich 'good old boys club' buddies.

Libby and Tippy graced the cover of several news magazines and made the talk show rounds. Comparisons to Rosa Parks were common. The Society of Women named her 'Woman of the Decade'.

The clinic closed for lack of staffing.

The Rainblow Coalition protested this development and threatened to expose all those selfish, greedy, racist, rich professionals (winners of life's lottery) who would dare deny the poor their rights. The picketer's chants were, "Hell, Nay, we won't pay!" and "Serve us or be nervous!" (I don't think Jessie brought these guys from Baltimore. I hate to say it, but, I really think these guys were hired from overseas.)

Despite an approaching hurricane Dennis and his family built a rickety raft and fled to Cuba.