Uncomfortable, yet so very perfect
By: Scott
I’ve often found myself entertained with the scribblings upon public bathroom stalls. This is important on a very ironic and special level that I will clarify in a moment.
We were graced with the kind and wise words of Amy Hempel and Denise Duhamel Yesterday. I certainly should have written about the experience yesterday, but I was so amused by some of the thoughts rattling around in my head that I had to take a bit to collect myself in an organized fashion. Amy Hempel feels like a sage, imparting a mystical wisdom upon any who might be willing to listen. It may be her silvery puffy hair or just her particular charisma, but she definitely demands attention. Denise Duhamel has a dry and quick wit. If you don’t get her jokes the first time around, she feels like the kind of person that would be so kind as to pause and explain to you why it’s funny, because that’s another gem of satirical humor of which she is such a master.
It has been said that important and meaningful writing should make us uncomfortable. It makes us remove ourselves from our routine. Breaks our concentration and kicks us right out of our comfort zone to force us to look at our world and ourselves in a new light. Amy Hempel brought up “The Aristocrats” as well as imparting a fantastic tale of ridiculous verbal combat between two individuals attempting to get the last word in on a doomed flight crashing as they argued amongst themselves. Terribly tragic for sure, if it weren’t so inconceivable silly.
The audience was released for a short break and I was inclined to visit the facilities. As a stark and overbearing contrast to the wisdom and high-brow education that was being imparted within the conference theater, I was compelled to take note of some scrawlings on the bathroom wall. It has been apparent that any good writer will make you question things that you take for granted, and while Duhamel and Hempel were getting things started back in the conference room after the break had passed I was reading such gems as: “Santorum: save us from Gay Marriage. Americas #1 problem.” Right next to that were the indelible words “What about the niggers?” All I could think was, “What about starvation?” On an adjacent wall was another scrawl: “God bless Tim Tebow.” I chuckled. Finally, and probably my favorite, was this diamond in the rough: “Jackie gives the best head.” What a motley crew of words, feelings and ideals, making us squirm just a little, yet we see their importance... and isn’t that what Amy and Denise are trying to teach us anyway?
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