In the Heartland people are polite. We smile and nod when passing each other, politely wait our turn in queues, quietly whisper judgmental comments to each other so the person we are discussing won't hear us and feel offended.
When eating together, we leave the last serving for each other--which usually means for the host or hostess, once everyone has gone home, as no one cares to break this unwritten law of polite society.
These are some of the ways Heartland people behave differently from, say,
Monday, September 16, 2013
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Remembering 9/11: The Things We Carry
I was at work. Tired. Not quite awake after spending a goodly amount of my sleep allotment writing a song the night before.
I drifted down to the break room, sluggishly snaked around the few men filling the space, put two quarters in the coffee machine, and bent to straighten the cup. At fifty-cents a shot, I didn't want to waste a drop. As I straightened, lifting the black gold to my lips, I became aware of silence.
No one was talking.
Everyone stood like marble staring at the small TV hung from the ceiling, and from which no sound came because the volume was always set to mute.
I drifted down to the break room, sluggishly snaked around the few men filling the space, put two quarters in the coffee machine, and bent to straighten the cup. At fifty-cents a shot, I didn't want to waste a drop. As I straightened, lifting the black gold to my lips, I became aware of silence.
No one was talking.
Everyone stood like marble staring at the small TV hung from the ceiling, and from which no sound came because the volume was always set to mute.
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