Which Role Do I Play

I watched them tear a building down,
Sixteen men in my hometown.

With a mighty heave and lusty yell,
They swung a beam and a sidewall fell.

I asked the foreman, "Are these men skilled,
Just like those you’d hire to build?"

He laughed and said, "No, indeed!
Common laborers are all I need."

And I can wreck in a day or two,
What talented men took years to do."

Then I thought as I went my way,
Which role in life do I play?

Am I a builder who works with care,
And lives each day by a rule and square?

Or am I a wrecker in my hometown,
Content to knock and tear things down?

Buddies

There were two childhood buddies who went through kindergarten and all the way to college together.  When war broke, they joined the army together and asked to be assigned to the same unit.  One night while out on patrol, they were ambushed.   Bullets were flying everywhere.

Out of the darkness came a voice, "Harry, help me. Please Harry, help me."   Harry immediately recognized the voice of his childhood buddy, Bill. Harry asked the Captain for permission to go out and help his buddy.  

The Captain said, "No, I can't let you go.  I am already short-handed and I cannot afford to lose one more person. Besides, the way Bill sounds he is not going to make it."

Harry kept quiet, but again Bill's voice was heard in the darkness, "Harry, please come.  Please Harry come help me."  Harry sat quietly because the Captain had ordered him to.  Again and again Bill's voice was heard on the battlefield.

Harry couldn't contain himself any longer and ran over to the Captain, "Captain, that's my childhood buddy. I have to go and help."  The Captain reluctantly agreed and let Harry go.  Harry crawled through the darkness, reached Bill and dragged Bill back into their camp.  

When they arrived back at the camp Bill was dead.  Now the Captain was furious and shouted, "Didn't I tell you he was not going to make it?  He is dead.  You could have been killed and I could have lost a hand.  It was a mistake for you to go out there."

Harry replied, "No Captain, I did the right thing.  When I reached Bill he was still alive and his last words to me were 'Harry, I knew you would come.'"

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