Resignation
The floating book shop was rained out. Here’s an excerpt from Matthew’s Sins, a short story published in a small magazine in 1998, when I was 48. Obviously, I was looking far into the future. Somehow I’d overlooked it when publishing the Billionths of a Lifetime collection. The clip is about a one-minute read:
Matthew dreamed he was floating, no longer burdened by aged arthritic limbs and joints. Although he was amongst clouds, unable to see either the heavens or earth, he was smiling, unafraid. Here, drifting like a kite that had broken from its string, he did not feel lonely, isolated though he was. He chuckled like a child at play. He lent no resistance, allowing the mysterious force that held him to take him wherever it wished. It was infinitely better than what he’d had. He hoped he’d never awaken.
He spied a huge golden gate in the distance. His pace slowed. Soon he was hanging suspended in the air. He gazed about, wondering how this was possible. He was unable to see beyond the structure, as the clouds were thick, a vivid, snowy white.
“Am I dead?” he mused aloud.
“Yes,” a deep, solemn voice replied.
He started. He was unable to spot the speaker. Unsure of himself, he was silent.
Interesting headline from foxbusiness.com: “A record 4.4M Americans quit jobs as ‘Great Resignation’ gathers momentum.” The Quits rate has hit 3%. Some of it is attributed to Covid but there are also a lot of folks looking at the greener pasture of working from home.
Here’s the incredibly sad opening of a newsmax.com article by Luca Cacciatore: “King County will begin escorting public sector workers based in Seattle’s Downtown and Pioneer Square to a nearby train station and ferry terminal on Nov. 15, as crime increases to record levels in Washington’s largest city.” Are you kiddin’ me? I am resigned to liberal rule, but things like this will be tough to swallow.
Here’s a pic from nypost.com:
The double standard at play in America is obvious. Phil Mushnick, NYP sports media critic, is fearless in pointing it out, not resigned to it. Here’s an excerpt from his column today: “Reader David Distefano notes that the Raiders dumped Jon Gruden for private missives showing he’s a bigot, but signed veteran WR DeSean Jackson, a very public Adolf Hitler and Louis Farrakhan-reliant anti-semite. The NFL and NFLPA condemned Gruden. Jackson? Not a word.”
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