updates

Here we are.

New job is mostly fun. I am asking all kinds of impertinent and stupid questions, which forces me to learn a lot. And everyone thinks I'm young and stupid anyway, so I'm not losing anything (probably pleasing them, if the truth be told) when I confirm their opinion. I keep hiding behind my computer when people come in or when the phone rings, but nobody's yelled at me yet. It's not as bad in some senses as letting people at school read things I have written, because I don't care about the news articles as much. But in some ways it's worse, because I keep being afraid someone won't like the way I quoted them, or the information I included, or won't understand my editorial. And this week I had to put in my first correction--someone was only being arraigned instead of standing trial. oops. But so far people have only said nice things--that they can tell I'm educated (unlike some we shall not speak of except to say that they had a vernacular disease).

Mondays I go to the County Commissioners' meetings, where they entertain me with stories of the "good ol' boy" days of county politics, some of the results of which are still around. I find out way too much about people around. I also got some interesting quotes, like "When you get in a knife fight, the man who wins is the one with the gun." There was also some confusion about a man getting a DUI on a bicycle (he didn't).

Monday night was the school board meeting. When they were ready to go into executive session I was trying to quickly ask the superintendent some questions, and get out of the way. When I got outside the door I realized I had left my purse in the room--I had my camera over my shoulder, so hadn't noticed it. They laughed at me, but I did too.

Tuesday night was City Council-- almost as entertaining as County Commissioners. When the issue of potholes came up, the vice-mayor and another councilman said you just had to drive on the wrong side of the road (and the police chief, present, told the new recruit something about selective enforcement). Another council member said he didn't read the minutes to find out about other men's wives...

I feel rather self-counscious going to big important meetings with big important people, and asking them questions and taking their pictures. It's especially bad when I try to make a good impression because someone finds out I was homeschooled and they don't like homeschoolers and I'm feeling rather stupid because it's coffee-or-siesta time and I'm trying to ask intelligent questions and am not wanting to talk to anyone. But everyone is very anxious to be nice to me now that I'm "press," which amuses me sometimes.

There are also some sad things about small towns and people knowing each other for the last hundred years. Thursday I was at the courthouse (where there is a marvelous full-length photograph of our county's first sheriff leaning on his rifle) and a woman came in to bail out a young man, presumably her son. The judge was hanging around, although not officially, and spoke with her for a bit. After he left, the woman asked the clerk "who was that?" to which the clerk responded, "Judge Barefoot" (incidentally, I like the name). "My kids used to go to school with his kids," the woman said. There are many other instances I have seen, but do not wish to relate: people see each other's weaknesses and sins; people see others against whom they have sinned. And have it always before them.

Unrelated: I was recently trying to describe to a five-year-old where Italy is. I said it was very far away, on the other side of the world, across the ocean, not part of Oklahoma or the United States. She looked at me understandingly and asked "Texas?"