Come to think of it, when's the last time you bought anything that wasn't marked with some sort of come-on? Have you ever been shopping for cereal with your kids? The important part of the package isn't whose picture is on the front or what color the box is or (ha!) the ingredients. Any parent knows the key words on a package are: Free Inside! Free? I'll make you a deal. Keep the piece of molded plastic you stashed inside and give me a dime off the price. Better yet, put the 10¢ into research to make your cereal better for my kids - it'll probably double your current budget for that.

Ever seen a political ad? Ever listened to a politician? Remember Willie Horton, the American flag, Chappaquiddick, Old Glory, Boston Harbor, the Stars and Stripes, "I am not a crook," and the Star-Spangled Banner? Baseball, Motherhood, Apple Pie and Roger Ailes?

Have you ever been quoted by a newspaper? Harangued by your Husband, Wife, Son, Daughter, Aunt, Uncle, In-laws (any variety), Boss, Employees, Clients, Patrons, Colleagues (Choose any that apply)? What we need is someone around who is unafraid to state the obvious: Ads mislead, critics exaggerate, and politicians are irrelevant. (Parents of young children may disagree. The Emperor's New Clothes was a neat story until your five-year-old asked your Supervisor why her shoes look just like Daddy's.)

Nevertheless, I think we need a patron saint of the obvious. Maybe several. Some days I tend toward the teaching of St. O'Toole. You remember him. St. Murphy gave us the famous dictum: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. 'Twas St. O'Toole who brought the matter into finer focus: Murphy was an optimist.

But if I had to pick just one, I'd opt for St. Yogi of the Yankees. Anyone who reached legal age - I know what you're thinking: What age is illegal? My daughter swears 13 should be; my grandmother feels the same about 90. Personally, I think any age with a Monday in it should at least be brought in for questioning. Regardless, anyone who attained their majority before, say, 1970, remembers Number 8 in pinstripes: the mask, the chest pad, the shin guards and his mistaking Don Larsen for a oversized tube of Colgate in the 1956 World Series.

Yogi Berra's extraordinary baseball prowess was exceeded only by his ability to state the obvious with a delicious disregard for syntax, protocol and fastidious decorum. A proper exegesis would examine the importance of Casey Stengel in Yogi's lexicological development, but I ran out of space about a page back; you'll have to fill in the blanks yourself.

Yogi gave us the words for that which is most obvious, but also most frequently forgotten: "It ain't over 'til it's over." When there doesn't seem to be any way I'll finish the job on time, when I can't tell the high water from shinola, when I'm in the middle of my own Saturday after Good Friday, the words of St. Yogi teach me to hang in there just a bit longer.

Jesus said the same thing: "I am with you - always."

Don't give up - God's not finished yet.