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My Town

 I'm especially fond of the waiter at the village pub; things aren't going the way he wants, in life, and he has forgotten (perhaps willfully) to put on an act. In icy silence, he brings your food. When you offer thanks, he says, "No problem," and his tone conveys a different message. "This--all of this--is, emphatically, A PROBLEM."


The young waiter has a colleague--and these two flirt inappropriately during the overlap in their work hours. Maybe they'll have a brighter future.

***

A kid at the high school died via suicide; the teachers did not know how to respond, so they banned "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao." There is a suicide in that novel...ergo....

Local critics complained. We don't discuss suicide when a suicide occurs? Do we also ban "Hamlet," "Les Miserables," "Anna Karenina," "Spring Awakening," "Mrs. Dalloway," "Oedipus," "Macbeth," "Fun Home," "Death of a Salesman," "The Seagull," "All My Sons," "The Children's Hour," "Hamilton," "The Zoo Story," "Bug"--? NINE STORIES.....SILVER WATER.....

But, actually, I sympathize with the teachers. You have to do *something* after a shocking event. There has to be a "response." So why not ban a book? It's something....

***

There is rage about the snow plows. A town representative visited the "Maplewood Moms" site to assert, "WE ARE DOING THE BEST WE CAN."

When civilians expressed skepticism, the town rep became more strident. "THIS IS A WELL-COORDINATED EFFORT--steered and governed by RATIONAL THINKING."

Ultimately, people lost interest--and the subject was dropped. Buried. But buried alive...
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