I work with a man whose last name starts with a Q. Sometimes we call him Q or Big Q, and today I intend to write about something Q likes to talk about.

Before we go any further, let’s nip something in the bud. I know there are some A-Z Blogging “aficionados” out there who will say I bailed out on the letter Q; especially since it is sometimes hard to come up with Q words.

First of all, for anyone who has read this blog, you must know by now that I’m going to do anything I want; even if that means using the Caret symbol ^, for the letter Q. Second and far more important, the “Q” is a highly revered personality to this blog. It was the Q who gave me not only the idea to blog about the QWERTY keyboard https://zuludelta45.net/2017/04/20/q-on-que-and-the-qwerty-keyboard/, but more importantly, about one of the most interesting blogs written here https://zuludelta45.net/2016/04/20/letter-q-q-highway/ explaining the Darian Gap which comes from the Latin; Rude Interuptus; the driving “road interrupted” in Central America connecting North and South America. Ahhhhhh you got me. There are no such Latin words as Rude Interuptus; I was just lying again because it’s funny to make up Latin. Anyway, don’t mock the Q!

The Q is a very passionate person in general, but there are several subjects that really get him going. One is how “they” failed to connect North and South Stations in Boston when they had the whole ground broke open during “The Big Dig.” Another is French Fries. From what I can gather from our spirited discussions, the only quality french fries are made with fresh oil, hand-cut potatoes, and love; mostly at the open air fairs in the state of Maine. We will not be discussing either of these (thankfully). Don’t get him started on how “they” wrecked the Internet! There are a few more, but the one of interest at the moment is how the Government is wrecking the country, and the world by letting “Mega Corporations” merge with other “Mega Corporations.” Q and I probably disagree more than agree on most things, but on this subject, I agree with him 100%. I would agree 2000%, but as Ano Domani pointed out recently, one whole segment; be it the cumulation of your time broken down at work, or the amount of slices in a pizza equates to 100%.

One more side note, if I may. In general, The Q is a VERY conservative being, a veteran, and a man of strong convictions. He is fully away that his point of view on this matter is against the grain of his Republican beliefs. Not exactly from the “same cloth’ as that “radical socialist;” Zulu Delta.

So there we sat listing off names in agreement; Exxon-Mobil, U.S. Air-American Airlines, Time Warner-AOL and so on. Suddenly, I began to laugh heartedly. “It’s not funny,” Q said. “These corporations… …..”Woah, whoa, whoa I interrupted. ‘I’m with you I said. I was just thinking about a news story I’ve been hearing the last few weeks. “Yea,” he said. Yea. It’s not true that the Government never stops these corporate raiders wreaking havoc I said. Just last week, the Government stepped in and finally refused to allow Staples and Office Depot to merge.

“How is that so funny he said?” Well, I began; of all the mergers that were allowed to proceed, one of the very, very few halted due to competition concerns, were two office supply companies.

“The Govenment……..protecting America from the high cost of pencils every day!”