Meridian, Idaho

I’ve come to love Idaho. It’s beauty, it’s wilderness, it’s people.

But sometimes Idahoans surprise me.

Case in point:

A school district in northern Idaho is thinking about banning John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men from its curriculum.

Of Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize–winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in search of new job opportunities during the Great Depression in California. (Wikipedia)

The novella is required reading in many schools, and, because its language is raw, graphic, and now considered racist, some want the book banned from curriculum and/or removed from school libraries.

At first I was incredulous as I read about the potential banning in the Los Angeles Times; then as I read further, I actually giggled out loud.

Mary Jo Finney, a parent who has previously raised objections about books in the school district’s curriculum, declared that the book “is neither a quality story nor a page turner.” She and other committee members have a problem with coarse language in the book, such as “bastard” and “God damn,” and allege that “the teachers actually had the audacity to have students read these profanities out loud in class.” They also complained that the novel, set in Depression-era California, is too “negative” and “dark.”

To call a Steinbeck story non-quality seems absurd to me, but I must confess that his East of Eden is the best book I’ve ever read so I’m a bit biased.

And to call a book about The Depression as too “negative” and “dark” just makes me want to answer, “Duh!”

Dave Eubanks, a nonvoting committee member, supports the recommendation. “Nobody’s banning books or burning books, he told the Spokesman-Review. “There was just too darn much cussing. It was on almost every single page of the novella.”

If the reviewers think the book has  “just too darn much cussing”, then how can they grasp 14 year olds hearing (and/or saying) even stronger words that are said multiple times on the bus ride to school, in the lunch room, and on television every night. Words a lot more profane than bastard and God damn.

Heaven forbid! 🙂

Using the strongest words allowed by the reviewers, I’ll claim that Of Mice and Men is a gosh darn good book.

Raw? Yes. Disturbing? Yes. Profane? Yes. Honest? Yes. An appropriate read in high school? Yes. A better read as an adult? Yes.

Meridian, Idaho

I received the following text the other day:

Kathy-just saw your ad for bar stools on Craigslist.  Is there anything wrong with them?

This came from a woman who eventually bought the bar stools.

The text fascinated me because she expected me to tell her the truth.

I had already indicated twice on the posting that the chairs were in “excellent” condition and they were.

It surprised me that she thought that I might have lied in the post but that I would tell her the truth if she asked.

Her expectations were that people told the truth when she asked them questions.

While she might expect that, reality might be very different.

As I get older, I’m finding that I have fewer and fewer expectations that things will work out a specific way. And, more importantly, I rarely expect that people react to things the way I think they will.

Reminds me of an exchange in Pretty Woman:

Edward: “It’s just that very few people surprise me.”

Vivian: “Yeah, well, you’re lucky. Most of them shock the hell out of me.”

Meridian, Idaho

There are some of us who like to question everything, and there are some of us who like answers for everything…

Yesterday, Rich and I were at Lowe’s and Home Depot shopping for window blinds. Oddly, half of our new home has blinds while the other half does not. 🙂 So we’re trying to match the new with the old.

Rich was getting a bit peeved at me because I kept going off topic and looking at all the new items that are now available; they weren’t when we stopped building houses eight years ago.

I’m a questioner. Some of my often used sentences end in question marks:

Why? Why Not? I wonder how…? What if…?

Rich wanted answers: Who had the best matching blinds for the best price?

I wanted to look at all the newest and coolest items to see how they worked.

That got me thinking about how many questions I asked while growing up. Lots and then lots more.

In my family, asking questions wasn’t necessarily a good thing. If we questioned, then it was perceived that we weren’t respecting authority or the Church’s teachings.

That’s not how I saw it. I saw questions as a way to learn more.

The interesting thing is that I think our kids inherited both tendencies from us. They ask questions but they also stick to task when necessary.

Are you a questioner, an answerer, or both?

PS: We got blinds at Lowe’s: best to suit our needs at the lowest price. 🙂

Meridian, Idaho

While staying with and visiting my dad last week, a couple of secrets came out.

He had a legal appointment where he had to sign dozens of papers.

As I watched him sign his John Hancock over and over again, I remembered all of the times I forged his signature during high school.

I confessed and told Dad and the lawyer about it. “This brings back lots of memories of signing your name on fake absence notes whenever I cut school.”

He laughed and said that he’d never had a clue. Luckily, I never got caught being truant.

Melissa, the lawyer, laughed as well and said that no one had ever admitted that in her office before.

She then asked me if I had anything else to confess.

I said that after telling Dad that I had smoked marijuana last fall while traveling in Colorado I think that confessing two things was enough for this visit.

Dad will be 95 in a couple of months and I don’t want to shock him too much… 🙂