Workin in the Liberry....

Old age seems to be affecting everything I've previously depended on, not just my health and bank account, but also my lovely Macintosh laptop (or as Sherwood calls it, "tummytop." 

My laptop is so old that Apple won't work on it any more, not for love (the warranty contract) nor money (bribery).  But thanks to the District of Columbia, which provides for its residents even better than some of the states who actually get to vote in Congress, we have a fabulous library here on 9th and G Sts. NW.  The MLK, Jr., library has a new "digital commons," where residents like me can go to use a state of the art iMac or PC if we have bothered to acquire a DC library card!  For free!!  We have to pay something per copy if we want to print out anything.  So far, I haven't.

Today, however, I experienced one of the downsides of using a free, public digital commons:  a young person whose sole aim this afternoon appeared to be watching as much of a documentary on
sex as he could.  I noticed him because he was sitting at the computer next to mine, rocking his knees or something, and I found it distracting.  So I looked over and happened to see the documentary, which was closed captioned.  The host of the program was interviewing a young woman from perhaps a Mideastern country--I didn't look that long or that hard to get all the details, but I do remember one quote:  The woman said, "The young boys who have just entered puberty here don't have a chance to have sex with any women or girls.  The only choice for them is the donkeys." 

Donkey sex?  That's a new one for me.  I know the farm boys in the Midwest often woo cows or sheep.  This may not be their first choice, as there just aren't that many donkeys in the Midwest.  Not in the areas where I grew up or in which I lived as an adult. 

I regret that I wasn't quick enough to smile at the guy when he glanced up and saw me looking possibly incredulous.  He seemed a bit sheepish.  I could have just laughed and said, "Donkeys??" 

Later  I was at my friend's house, and she was watching CNN or something.  There was a program on about new fashions in pets.  It showed a well-dressed New Yorker walking into a convenience store with a small llama on a leash.  My friend was not at all fazed.  She has an older coonhound who is
probably much older and bigger than the llama.  The dog has been to NYC many times in the past two or three years and stays in the hotel, too.  Why?  "Because he loves to run in Central Park!"  I
can imagine my dad's reaction to that bit of info.  HIS dogs never even got to come in the house.  They had their own kennel outside.