Carolyn: (Looks down at the playground outside) I wonder who that man sitting on the bench by himself is.
Cristina: Oh, he’s a convict.
Carolyn: What?!? (On a playground!?!)
Cristina: Well, I guess he used to live here, but then the government took away his apartment while he was in jail. Now to make it up to him, they gave him this little room nobody was living in on the ground floor.
Carolyn: Do you know what he was in jail for?
Cristina: (Thinks.) No. It’s ok, though. He’s harmless.
(Carolyn wonders whether this rather blasé attitude toward convicted felons is a result of:
- (a) Moldovans being less paranoid about their children’s safety than Americans,
- (b) Moldovans minding their own business more than Americans,
- (c) Moldovans putting less faith in their government’s declarations of who’s “bad” than Americans, or
- (d) some other cultural difference of which she’s completely unaware.)
2 comments:
You should go say hi because
a) he was either wrongfully imprisoned, in which case he'll have cool stories that will enrich your understanding of Moldovan culture and politics or
b) he was rightfully imprisoned, in which case you want to be on his good side
very interesting....i guess they must be more trusting in general. i never asked the SF bums about their pasts, although sometimes, they chose to share with me..
Post a Comment