Wonderful stories as always. I'm sorry I'm so late replying-- I get my threads confused now. Unlike Po, I seem incapable of following more than one thread at a time.
During the (dare I even say the name?) Monica fiasco, you represented the more blasé European view about extramarital affairs. Well, hearing what you observe everyday over there, no wonder you were unimpressed with Bill's tiny indiscretions! :)
I think you are able to watch what goes on there (and here) with more objective amusement than we because you are detached- both as a writer and as a citizen-- culturally there and physically with regards to the US. Many Americans identify a lot more closely with the people who govern them; they do, after all, "represent" them, maybe in more ways than just politically.
It's hard to imagine we all came from the same genetic pool, from one Adam and Eve as it were .. you have people shooting the police with impunity, and here we give three years in prison to a man who threw a dog into traffic during an attack of road rage. Did you see that story? When the unanimous verdict was read, the courtroom burst into spontaneous applause. The owner of the dog was disappointed; she wanted him to get ten years, becuase "she loved that dog like a child, it was her baby, and she had to watch her baby die." She was more grief-stricken than most widows.
Hmm..
Not that I don't think it was a terrible thing to do, don't misunderstand, I just get incensed over people saying things like that, when dogs get more attention than abused children in this country. |
