November 23, 2014

Yesterday I stood in the checkout queue at Barnes & Noble holding a stack of books and the current Poets & Writers magazine when the lady behind me asked about the magazine. I offered to let her browse through it while we waited (interminably, it seemed) for a clerk to become available. She fanned the magazine and asked if I was a writer.  “Yes,” I replied warily.

“What do you write?”

I was sorely tempted to say: ‘words’, but, being a nice guy I smiled and said: ” Short stories, a screenplay or two and I’m working on a novel – have been for five years.”

“Oh, how exciting,” said she.  “Would I have read any of them?”

To an unpublished writer this is bite-your-tongue time. I smiled and said: “I doubt it.” Thankfully, the queue began moving and our brief encounter ended.

Upon reflection I wondered how different my response might have been had she asked: ‘What do you write about?’  I might have responded: “Coming of age in a period of political ineptitude and corruption, religious hypocrisies, the influence of energy on global economies and, the common link between them – revenge.”  Any ensuing discussion would certainly have extended beyond the checkout line.

But our brief exchange did raise a question.  How many times do we ask the wrong question only to be disappointed and/or misled by the answer?  Ex.:  Is there a Santa?  Will you love me in the morning? Do you think I look fat? Aren’t we all created equal?

The problem looms more important in the now never-ending election cycles and 24/7 political coverage of same. Reporters and journalists dutifully record and transmit information that they see, hear and are told is factual.  The endemic problem is that they frequently ask the wrong questions – questions their editor(s) think will elicit answers translatable onto bumper stickers or headline grabbers.

Hope and change – Hope for what? and change what? Secure the borders – How? and which ones? Our children deserve better.  Better what?  Better schools and teachers? Or a better trophy just for showing up?

We speak what’s on our mind but we believe what’s in our heart. By asking only stock questions, journalists get stock answers that seldom delve to the core of an issue wherein lies the truth. The interpretation of the question is left to the interviewee. The interviewer feels elucidation of the answer is his/her job, qualifications be damned.  We should be able to learn, with clarity, what force vectors reside in the hearts of those we elect.

Shouldn’t we have known, for example, that George W. Bush would be willing to sacrifice 4,500 men to prove his worth to his father?

Shouldn’t we have known that Barack Obama is deeply committed to recompense for injustices  to people of color and his concomitant abjuration of economic and international obligations?

Writers and poets expound primarily about what’s in the heart of their protagonists and antagonists.  They explore the human condition using present day external manifestations and reflect how an individual’s mindset can metastasize into profound philosophical and cultural change for the future.  Many are keen interpreters of the unseen consequences of an imperfect world and could serve as intuitive interrogators of those seeking public office.

We need the modern day equivalent of a literary giant like the eighteenth century poet Shelley to lead us into the light once again. (Look it up.)

You are welcome.