“We want justice,” yelled a man in the crowd as he waved his placard high
above his head. Angry voices joined him, shouting loudly as the mob surged
towards City Hall in the city of Odessa in the Ukraine.

The people were furious at the way the council was allowing only certain
people to build a house.

“Looks like the council just favours the rich,” one man hissed.

“Yeah,” another chimed in angrily. “I heard it from my neighbor. He says
the men in the council are getting rich from taking bribes. It’s not fair
because if you can’t afford to pay them a hefty bribe, they just won’t let
you build.”

The guards standing at the door of the council watched the mob nervously.
There were only three of them on duty and they were no match for the
seething crowd.

“I’m going to call the police,” one of the guards muttered as he pulled out
his cell phone.

“Good idea,” another whispered. “I don’t like the look of things. Those
thugs look as if they are getting ready to bash down the door and mash us
to a pulp, and we won’t be able to stop them.”

He was right. The crowd grew angrier by the minute, as they shouted and
yelled and shoved to get closer to the door of the building.

Then something funny happened.

“Look out,” someone on the edge of the crowd yelled as he saw a fat little
bulldog hurtle towards them—on his skateboard! Sam was well known in
Odessa for his love of skateboarding and he was often seen in the parks
with his master.

He had been in a nearby park and hearing the shouts of the crowd had
decided to skate over to see what was going on!

His tongue hung out in a big silly grin and he was panting like a steam
train as he aimed his board straight at the crowd. Some of the men jumped
out of the way while others grabbed their cell phones and started filming.

Sam surged through the crowd until he hit the sidewalk and flipped his
board. Someone bent over to help him back onto his board but he needn’t
have bothered. Sam expertly tossed the board back onto its wheels, leapt
onto it and sped back the way he had come. Back and forth he raced while
people screamed and laughed and fell over themselves as they leapt out of
his way.

Soon everyone was laughing and the fury had drained right out of the crowd.
No one felt angry any more as they laughed and pointed at the playful
doggy. They lowered their placards and wandered away one by one, laughing
at the antics of Sam.

Great idea Sam. No one can be angry when they are laughing. Here’s a crazy
idea. Next time you feel like saying something nasty to your brother or
sister, or someone says something mean to you, why don’t you suggest
singing your insults to each other. You’ll both soon be laughing so hard
you will have forgotten what your argument was about!