LATHROP – The desire to give back to the community is quite often the response politicians give when asked why they threw their political hat into the political arena.Not so for Mac Freeman, a former mayor of Lathrop. He entered the world of politics like a breached-born baby. “Feet first, kicking and screaming,” is how he describes his forced political baptism of fire.But not even a hastily written application on a yellow pad – done under duress – and later showing up to the interview in a pair of shorts for a seat on the Lathrop County Water District Board were enough to discourage the powers-that-be in the late 1970s to pick him over the two other applicants who were both impeccably dressed in “suits with long pants.”“I had never interviewed for a job before.