Letters to the Editor
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She wasn't snooping!
All of her observations were about things in plain, public view. She had been invited to go through the videotapes, the kitchen was open to her. This information, when combined with the stuff about the zucchini bread and the doorknob use instruction, forms a very nice character sketch. Endearing and funny. I'm in a real funk, but I laughed out loud at the bit about the colonoscopy tapes. We know that they did this to conserve precious tape space, but they are presented as if they should be viewed repeatedly for entertainment purposes. I wonder what my house would reveal?
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When you're dead
I saw this in a movie or read it somewhere and thought it was wonderful advice:
Every one of us should have a person designated to go to our house and remove embarassing materials if we die suddenly. You know what I mean, the kinky lingerie, the porno in a hidden drawer under the bed, your favorite vibrator. Normal every day things, you don't want your poor weaping mother to have to deal with.
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um...
This was a totally boring piece of writing. The set-up suggested a new take on P.I. work, and when the scene shifted to the housesitting gig, at least the discovery of something fascinating in the house. Colonoscopy videos? Really, Salon, I know I'm not alone in mourning the biting, concise essays you used to accept for your Life and Mothers Who Think sections. Boo to you.
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I know it's a slow news period...
...but what accounts for this junior high school drivel? And by the way who says she can't i.d. the detective agency she worked for? Did you ask?
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Amusing
Anonymous:who says she can't i.d. the detective agency she worked for
During the two-year stretch of my employment at the firm (which chooses to remain nameless)
Reading is Fundamental
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I'm glad...
..I'm not the only one annoyed and baffled by the inclusion of this piece. It wasn't well-written, funny or interesting. It doesn't even make much sense in the context of it's title. I'm suddenly grumpy that someone received compensation for writing this.
Now I remember why I let my Salon subscription expire.
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Funny tapes and engineers
This was such a funny piece! It reminded me of my days working with a quirky group of engineers with our state Department of Health. One of our managers there actually labelled every canned good they bought with the date, the place they bought it, and the price. I assume he graphed this somewhere as well. The colonoscopy videos also reminded me of a friend who had a similar experience. The husband of an old high school friend called him into the living room to watch a video of a laparascopic procedure. Seeing his old friend's fallopian tubes, he told me, had to be one of the weirdest experiences of his life.
cim902
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Lisa -
Thanks.
Not your fault, but the people who were irritated by this irritated me. I had to re-read it to get the taste out of my mouth. Thanks again.
Best,
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Reading may be fundamental ...
...and so is basic journalism, which is what I expect on Salon. A P.I. agency can't tell a writer/former employee that it "chooses" to remain unidentified, particularly since she got nothing from them for this article. You don't get to "choose." Thhere is no reason cited for so generously giving the purported company anonymity. Any editor who spots "chooses" not to be identified should be alert to a pipe job.
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Goodwill Anonymous
I used to work for Thrift Town. We also found many things like you described. The one that got me was a box of photographs. I bought it and kept it. Apparently whoever donated it didn't care about these memories or people the way the deceased had. It made me sad to think that no one remembers who these people are. One was a 1940s pic of three young people goofing around, a young man playfully holding up a young woman while another man laughed. Who are these people? What was the story there? We'll never know.
I also collect postcards and found many from an estate. They were from 1910. There were no addresses, just the man's name and the name of the tiny Texas town. One talked about how his friend's post office was going under, and where to send mail. But the best two were these:
The first has a picture of a man and woman canoodling in the moonlight. A girl had written on it, "Kiss me in the moonlight, darling." On the back she said it was the best Christmas she had ever had.
The second has a picture of a housewife being grabbed around the waist by the ice delivery man. A man had written on it, "How'd ya like to be the Ice Man?" (implying that these delivery men that visit housewives alone have their pick of... what? women to assault? but said in a playful way, like you could do in 1910). The back writing asks our guy how his "Christmas" went, apparently he knew what our guy was up to with the aforementioned young lady. Did the lady know that her Christmas fling was a player, like his buddy did? Did he marry the girl? Or wish he had? All I know is that he--or someone-- kept both cards for 85 years.
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Just a teaser to buy her book
To the people concerned she was paid for this, fear not. For the people bothered by the [lack of] journalistic quality, that's because it isn't journalism. The editor's note explains all.
This 'article' is a brief teaser to convince us how interesting it is to be a snoop, especially a P.I. And well, look at that, the author just happens to have written a whole fictional book on the subject. The article is basically an ad, Salon got an item it could post free, or it may have been part of a bigger marketing deal.
In actuality many/most book excerpts or related stories work like this, the primary difference being that in the past on Salon such items were often interesting and of better pedigree or substance. At least I hope to heaven that's what happened here -- I'd be horrified if someone paid for this article.