Truly.

It made me ache and cry.
In both good and hard ways.

To all the words you will read this year.
To all the words you will write…

The world is measurably better because you learned to do both.

Happy Belated Birthday, sir.

Well I’ll be dammed, we finally agree on a social matter.

Using ones superior moral awareness to overrule another adult’s personal choice is always a suspect course of action. Unless there is concrete harm being done (physical abuse, extreme mental abuse, tremendous deprivation) or a child is involved, a citizen should be allowed to make unpalatable choices. Once you begin legislating a cultural standard you are enforcing narrow ethos over real social good.

Obviously the government extends it powers into personal lives already: drug laws, mandatory school ages, hate laws…but this so clearly fail the intentional stink test. If you are going to try and undermine someone’s culture at least be upfront about it: no one likes a passive aggressive xenophobe.

If they really care so deeply for those made vulnerable by misogynistic Islamic culture use the money they would waste enacting and enforcing this law and put it into scholarships for young girls, shelters and literacy initiatives for abused wives, and police and social workers to detect and shield them from the real harm that occurs in those communities…not fashion police.

At this point the French are setting themselves up as the moral peers of the Iranian religious police that beat and maim women for not wearing the garb.

ps.
Excellent piece. I’ll allow my better nature to respond at length once I’ve had my morning coffee.

Happily for us, at some point you also learned to write. On a more personal note, to say I’m glad you made it through such precarious beginnings is a huge understatement, but glad I am.

May your day be filled with delicious toast, luxurious loungings, and assorted sordid delights. xoxoxoxo

You didn’t have dance while it was happening. How could you?

I afraid I agree with you, but it is somewhat beside the point. As much as I appreciate and enjoy readership, ultimately I’m writing to further my development. I also try to write to the dictates of the story…readership bleed or not, this particular story is going to be as long as it needs.

As a more direct answer: there is one more part to this chapter. And another 3-5 part chapter required to conclude the story proper. Hopefully the three people left reading at the end (my cat included) will have enjoyed the ride.

This particular one only had a couple of small changes (both suggested by Sulya) but a few of my older pieces will be massively rewritten so they flow better. And to hide of the fact I used to be a much poorer writer.

In the next couple weeks look for the complete, and definitive, versions of “The Streets of Old Laredo” “The most dangerous man in the world” and “A Curious Omission”.

If you’re late to the party and miss the initial posting, the full version will appear under the Featured short story bar. Though if that’s the case me writing a off hand note in the comments sections likely isn’t the best way to inform you…ah Well.

You back a hustler from the streets into a corner and bad things happen.

The king of pop was the most dangerous man on the planet from 1985 to 1987…then he became Captain Neo and lost his street cred.

This story either just went into the gutter or soared to new heights. Either way I laughed a lot.

“I don’t even know anymore…I’m just glad you can see it”

Love that line of Danny’s. So smart.

I know that guy.

That may be the most erotic imagery I’ve ever encountered.

High praise indeed. Another Roadside attraction has some of finest burst of prose I’ve ever read. Though I doubt I can really touch his stuff, I the compliment is still appreciated.

“I am moderately confused by only one thing and that is, is it the Panda on the phone? I mean did he duck down to use his cell??? Or is it another hedgehog? Or am I not really supposed to know?”

The ambiguity was intentional.