One day as I was opening a package of chicken breasts, I began wondering about all the people involved in getting the neatly packaged chicken ready for me to open and prepare for dinner.

It just popped into my head how easy life has been made for me by a chain of hard-working people.

They went to work, did their job, and I now have a fresh and perfectly packed largess of chicken.

It got me thinking about living at my grandmother's house while my dad was in the Navy during World War II.

She raised chickens, and if we wanted one for dinner, she would go out to the yard with an axe and chop its head off.

A chicken with its head cut off is not a pretty sight. In fact, seeing it flip and flop headless is enough to give small children nightmares.

The thought of how chickens are slaughtered in processing plants doesn't bear thinking about.

Then there is the plucking. Yuck! Getting all those feathers off is a nasty job. My job was usually picking the pinfeathers that were left at the end … and I hated it.

There is a lot of trust involved in the way we live our lives now.

We trust that when we go out to eat the waiter won't spit in the soup. We put our garbage out and trust someone will pick it up. We call 911 knowing someone will respond. We board a plane hoping there is an alert and able pilot.

In the Jan. 15 "miracle on the Hudson," pilot Chesley Sullenberger was hailed as a hero. I loved his humility as he accepted the kudos but told well wishers in Danville, Calif., that, "Circumstance determined that it was this experienced crew that was scheduled to fly that particular flight on that particular day, but I know I can speak for the entire crew when I tell you we were simply doing the job we were trained to do."

This idea of an army of people helping me live well is greatly appreciated.

Lately, however, I've been reading about some who didn't do the job they were trained to do such as mortgage lenders and bankers.

How about Rod Blagojevich, the recently impeached governor of Illinois, who so blatantly violated public trust and then went on TV, looked that same public in the eye and proclaimed his innocence.

I was embarrassed for him.

When he was impeached, it was good to see that rules really do sometimes apply to everyone.

This one is classic: Janice Lloyd reported in USA Today that "Southern Illinois University drafted a new plagiarism policy in 2007 after facing scrutiny for several high profile copying controversies, but now the school has another awkward problem. It appears the policy plagiarizes part of a document created by Indiana University in 2005."

Somehow I smell some rotten chicken at the so-called, "top."

American writer Claude McDonald once said, "If hard work is the key to success, most people would rather pick the lock."

Could it be possible that some of the out of style adages that come to mind like, "Honesty is the best policy," "Thou shalt not lie," "An honest day's work for an honest day's pay," could somehow come back in style?

It certainly could help.

e-mail: sasy14@gmail.com