The Dickens You Say!

Page 1

The Dickens You Say! by Rick Scholz (rscholz@comcast.net)

C

hance and circumstance had left me alone on Christmas Eve for the first time in my life. I could tell you why but then you'd feel sorry for me and I am not yet so woebegone that I'm willing to pander so cheaply for that kind of sympathy. I work at The Center for Artificial Indifference (CAI) here in the good old US of A. and through good times or bad our business is always booming. But my personal fate is not so rosy. Day after day, week after week I am gradually becoming more genuinely indifferent and despondent regarding my fate and the fate of the world. I don't know if there is a business with the mission of promoting “Genuine Indifference” but if there is, perhaps I should send them my resume. Suffice it to say, I was alone on Christmas Eve and I felt detached from the human race. I was considering reading my very old copy of A Christmas Carol to bring a little human warmth my way. My copy of A Christmas Carol has a bright red cover and some Christmassy decoration in gold lettering on the cover. Whenever I look at it I can see my Dad reading this wonderful story of Christmas redemption to me and my sister when we were eight and six respectively... over 50 years ago. My Dad died many Christmases ago. Was he personally redeemed? I think not. But really, how would I know? As was fairly typical when I wasn’t at work, I had spent the day kicking around the house playing on the computer and listening to NPR on the radio. One of my favorite radio shows is “Fresh Air” with Terri Gross and I usually listen to it as I eat a bit of beef with a blot of mustard or perhaps some potato cheese soup. On today’s show, Terri had an interview with a former CIA agent who had specialized in the search for Osama Bin Laden. The agent stated that many in the CIA believed that Osama actually died during the first big push to remove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan.

___________________________________________________________________________________ TheDickensYouSay_3 Page 1 of 8 rscholz@comcast.net 12/22/19


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