Reporters deserve common courtesy too
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The Long View |
By Andrea Furlong |
Our little town of Victor brags about the largest percentage of Belgian people in the state. I bring up the topic at the PTMM (Pronto Tuesday Morning Meeting). All the names are changed to protect the innocent: especially me.
“Oh look, here comes Rootbeer with her folding chair. Good, we don’t have to hunt our stool. Put it here, please. What’s new with you?” asks Tapwater.
“Did you hear that those darned Belgians are planning a rolle bolle court up in the park? Please pass the cookies.”
“Ya, I heard,” complained Tapwater. “And in a residential district. No one gets noisier than those guys whooping and hollering as they play.”
“Boy, that will put Victor on the map for the Belgians and their game,” added Cappucino.
“We’ve always been there, don’t you know. The Belgians must have been some of the first in this area. The DeMeulenaeres are celebrating their 117th reunion, I heard. 117, can you imagine?” rants Dietcoke. “We have lots of Germans, too. You know, you can always tell a German, but you can’t tell him much!”
“I thought it was the Belgian you couldn’t tell,” adds Rootbeer. “Or is it the Irish?”
“All I know for sure is that if you teach school in this area, your first task is to spell DeMeulenaere, because they are around,” said Dietcoke. “We have lots of Northern Europeans here because we are so lucky to be in the center of this beautiful farmland. Please pass the cookies - you gals always hog them at the end of the table.”
“Oh, we’re just protecting them from the hoarders,” said Creamnsugar. “I read the Native American people were quite surprised to see the range of hair color we Americans had. The red hair and blonde hair and dark and light brown. My foreign exchange daughter felt that she fell into the land of giants — the size of the Belgians and Germans was overwhelming to the little Philipino.”
“Oh, by the way, do you know what they call a crabby German?” asks Tapwater. “A sour kraut.”
Lots of giggling and foot scraping suggests the end of this important meeting and Orange Pop confirms it. “Our little town has always been open to all.”
Diversity is interesting and growth factor. Commona my house, my house a common.