So simple

What was it that GEICO used to say: it's so simple, even a caveman could do it?

The point in that commercial was to shame us into thinking if some Neanderthal could figure out how to save big on insuring his Buick, any of us modern types would have no problem doing the same.

Life often follows in the form of commercials, so say hi to Panta Petrovic, a Serbian who gave up the fast pace of modernity and moved into a cave in the mountains outside the city of Pirot. 

He's really far out! To get to his abode, one must climb a steep climb up a mountain.  And when you get to his house, you might not want to hang around for long. It's notably lacking in amenities, unless you consider an old bathtub being used as a toilet something you'd like to see or use.  

And don't look for a Sealy Comfort Sleeper or a Posturepedic with high thread count sheets. The man sleeps on piles of hay.

Before dropping out of Serbian society, Petrovic worked as a laborer and was just as busy after work, what with his six children by four different women. 

I guess it was that sixth kid that did it. Petrovic had had enough, and he decided to really get away from it by becoming a hermit.  He saw this as totally organic: "I was not free in this city. There is always someone in your way – you either argue with your wife, neighbors, or the police. Here, nobody is hassling me," he explained.

Petrovic

Lacking a phone to call Domino's for delivery, Petrovic has to eat mushrooms he finds and fish he hooks. And as a bonus, now and then he wanders into town and dumpster dives for food and barely-used socks. For companionships, he takes in whatever pets wander into his cave, be they tapirs, aardvarks, whatever.  I found it surprising that he gets welfare checks, but I have no idea how.  

But here's the thing: last year when he came to town for the annual J.C. Penney October Madness sale, he was told about the coronavirus. And as soon as it was available in his town, he TOOK it because he cares about his own health as well as that of his community. He figures the COVID "does not pick," and points out, "It will come here to my cave, too."

Here's a man about as remote from modern society as there can be, and even he  "doesn't understand the fuss" about this vaccine hesitancy.  He even says he will come back to town for a booster shot if such is recommended. And he doesn't need Facebook Doctors to tell him this is up to all of us: "I urge every citizen to get vaccinated, every single one of them," he says.

At press time, I was informed that a 
production error led to an incorrect
photograph in today's blog. The photo
above left identified as "Petrovic" is
actually that of former Red Sox and Yankees
slugger Johnny Damon. Your editor regrets
the error. The real hermit is shown here.

Maybe it's the pure isolation of his existence that leads him to clear thinking. All of us are enriched by removing the thoughts of Marjorie Taylor Greene and her deniers from our zeitgeist. 

It may be that if more of us were left alone, we, too, would become wiser. After all, a very great man in our spiritual life began his life sleeping on hay in a manger.