Overheard Starbuck

"That neighbor of mine who claims people are using aerosol pesticides on him and his family says that the number of bursts from passing cars directed at his windows and doors noticeably increase on Wednesdays and remain about the same through Sunday. Suggesting to him that most of the people using these weapons have a five-day work week starting on Wednesdays. Or they make-up a percentage of the total population, so that as traffic increases their numbers increase. They're not limited to, for example, a battalion sized force in control of a certain section. Where traffic congestion would sometimes cause them to be less vigilant. Or maybe there're special activities in town or nearby that brings these people past his home. Bar-hopping for example. Perhaps they're mostly weekend warriors who enjoy taking side trips to harass those who have the gall to stay put and try to make a life after being ordered to run."
---"I like your friend's wacko attempts to make the craziest ideas sound logical. Psychotropic drugs and the neo-compassionate conservatives' thirty years war on crime have all but put an end to the producers of and interest in insane ramblings. 'Zero-tolerance' and all that. ..Wiped-out a whole literary genre along with a once suitable subject matter for painting and performance art--no loss there. Successful people, patrons of the arts, people who buy books--people who have lives--have no time for stories like his. ...Oh, I forgot how semi-automatic weapons used on unsuspecting crowds by America's disgruntled lone-gunmen and disturbed teens may've also changed our ideas about mentally ill people with their notebooks, drawings, crazy theories and eccentric behavior. No one's buying that kind of brut art anymore."