My town is owned by a ninety-year-old mafia boss; several of the buildings are vacant, but the mafia boss has made a calculation and determined that it's most profitable for him if he does *not* sell his various empty spaces.
If you try to criticize the mafia boss on social media, then many strangers fire back: "When my child developed his gluten allergy, Mr. Lopresto's pizzeria made and sold special slices of gluten-free pizza!" (To me, this seems irrelevant. It's not like the mafia boss *donated* the special pizza. He sold it. And even if he *had* donated it? ....I keep my mouth shut.)
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There is a local bakery that--ludicrously--assumes you will tip twenty percent on a pre-ordered cake when you yourself are driving to the bakery to pick up the cake. So the tip is ostensibly to thank someone for putting the cake in a box and handing the box to you. A few brave souls in my town have criticized this "default tip" policy.
Mostly, however, my liberal neighbors feel uncomfortable saying that an outlandish thing is outlandish. One group of neighbors has concluded that the poor local business owners are trying to be scrupulously honest; it's the shady manufacturers of iPad "tip programming" who are at fault here. Another group says that the tip is a necessary correction for society's ills, since WORKERS DO NOT MAKE A LIVING WAGE! This second group likes to humblebrag before virtue-signaling. "Call me crazy....call me a lone voice in the wilderness....but *I* am *happy* to tip...."
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The library closed for five years--for renovations--and it was unacceptable to question the five-year timeline. Recently, the library reopened, and there was fanfare for one weekend. Now--once again--the library is nearly empty. Also, after briefly seeming like the town's pride and joy, the library has become a scapegoat. I first noticed the trend a few weeks ago. A Maplewood Mom: "I visited our new library, and I'm reluctant to say this....well.....has anyone noticed that there just aren't many books?"
Recently, the library has shifted its status yet again; it is no longer just a disappointment, but it is (also) actually the town's main villain. When the school buses began losing children last week, one person wrote the following thought: "We can afford a space-age intergalactic library-arboretum....but unfortunately this means we cannot pay for adequate busing....."
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