2/18 Weekend Freewrite:
Good Fences
My only defense was to write down every word they said while acting as if this was the norm in meetings such as these.
“Obviously, there was no consideration for our point of view!”
“Isn’t there a law about what’s acceptable to discuss around children of this age?
“Where was the oversight?”
“Who approved these resources?”
“Do any others reference literature like this?”
“Just what is her agenda anyway?”
“Look, I try to have an open mind, but this is going too far!”
“It’s not that I don’t think the topic is important, it’s just that ALL perspectives on the issue should be included.”
“She’s trying to influence my child to think only like she does!”
“My child cares for her and now feels totally confused, because it’s the opposite message of the one we work so hard to
instill in our household.”
Eloise was my half-sister, but everyone thought she was my cousin because we were so completely unalike. While I’m tall and wiry, she has more of an athletic build. My hair is wavy and hers is stick straight. Spontaneity is my friend, while a five year plan for everything, including potential costs for projected visits to the vet for her undisciplined and neurotic Springer Spaniel.
Her position is clear and there’s no chance in Hades of her siding with me. And these people know it. All of their issues with me are really just the same fights they pick and all glom onto when threatened by any chance of an eye spying through peepholes in the fences they’ve been building to keep in their curious pets and to keep out the imagination and joy of others for fear it will reflect poorly on their very dutiful and serious lives.
The last time they saw a movie in this town was long before the theater was turned into a Pentecostal church, but even then the only thing showing was a film about those left behind after the Rapture, with scenes of suddenly driver-less cars crashing into fire hydrants, untamed lawn mowers moving full-throttle out of yards and into the street, electric razors buzzing unattended in bathroom sinks.
The purpose of the movie was the same as the purpose for this meeting: to induce fear. The theme was also the same: If you cast doubt on us, you’re doomed. I tucked my notebook into my bag and stood to leave.
By LLeyDavis (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons (
