Dr. Metablog

Lola on Romeo and Juliet

The granddaughter, Lola, age 6 and a bit, has been reading to me -- a child's version of Romeo and Juliet. The feud between the Montagues and the Capulets distresses her. "Why do they have to fight. Why can't they just talk about it?  Why don't they use their words?"

A Couple of Incomplete Stories from Real Life, Embroidered and Novelized but Left Hanging

1)  "My husband's niece, his sister's daughter, has been staying with us. She's nineteen just about to turn twenty. For a couple of months now. She's working on her English --the family is Finnish. She's also enjoying the local social scene; she's out a lot a night, but that's not a problem. She's old enough to be on her own. She's a nice girl, I thought, a good girl, kind of pretty in a northern way. She helps out with the kids if I ask her. I had no complaint until I started to notice that money was disappearing. At first, I thought I was crazy, but I did a couple of experiments to make sure. I left my purse with the wallet inside it  in a place where only Anniki could access it. I counted the money carefully. Sure enough, when I came back a $20 was missing. I calculate she must have taken about $300 so far. What should I do?  I can't ignore it. I could hide my purse, hide the money, but either she'd find it or she'd know that I knew. I have to tell my husband. I mean, it's his responsibility, isn't it?  I don't care so much about the money, but I think, yes, she should reimburse me. And she needs to know that she's on a wrong path. She's too old for this. I think we should sent her back to Finland, tail between her legs. She needs to learn a lesson."

2)  "I went back to South Dakota, haven't been there in a number of years, maybe three or four. I have second cousin, he's in his sixties. A decent guy, runs a wrecking service. Hard worker, no employees. Up all night sometimes. Twenty years ago, his son, Jake Leath Percy married this lady from Oregon. She got pregnant, had a baby, then skipped. No one ever saw her again. Returned to Oregon, we speculate. Left the baby with Jake Leath. Well, Jake Leath proved to be as incapable as his wife. On the road a lot. So my cousin Herb Percy kind of adopted the child. He was a big kid for his age, didn't do particularly well in school, but not a real trouble-maker. Herb did right by him. But then, and here I'm unclear about the details, they did some sort of DNA testing, I don't know why exactly,  and it turns out the kid isn't a Percy at all. Not biologically related to Herb's son. She was pregnant by someone else. Not a surprise, if you think about it. A cowbird kind of situation. But Herb brought him up, feels responsible. Doesn't really like him so much, I think. He's six-four, takes up a lot of room in the trailer. Drinks beer. And now it turns out he likes to start fires."