Susan Orlins's Blog, page 3

Shopping in China

We prowl Yashow’s aisles, giggling like a pair of teens, assessing shoes and scarves, chattering at the leisurely pace of the senior citizen duo we now are.

Selling Street Sense, Washington’s Homeless Newspaper

Nearly everyone had an avoidance tactic. They turned their heads away or looked straight ahead, as though I were invisible.

Worry Pastiche

Surveys showed that one in twelve listeners believed the story was real and that Martians were invading New Jersey.

DUMPSTER DAY

I planned to videotape the Miss America and watch it with my daughters—after they returned to me from their dad—the way we always had. (I know, I’m a lowbrow.)

Empty Nest Redux

Are two overnights a month better than four visits for a few hours each plus having her nearby for spontaneous additional visits?

Stranger on a Train

Regret is one of my least favorite feelings. In a few minutes I would be switching trains, and the opportunity to help this stranger on a train would soon expire . . .

Reversals

That Greta’s son had set parental controls on his mother’s computer gave me more than just a chuckle; it gave me a jolt, reminding me of the parent-child reversals I had been noticing more and more in my own life.

Highway Safety: Truckin’ With Trucks

A truck driver once told me that his instructions were: if you think you are going to hit a car with, say, a family in it, then try to kill all the occupants, because the financial settlement would be lower than if they lived.

Freaky Friday in Laos

y very presence seemed to bring out the worrywart in my adventuresome Eliza, as though every day of our time together in Laos were Freaky Friday, as in the film of the same name in which mother and daughter find their personalities exchanged.

Dog as Transitional Object

I knew a 52-year-old man with a 26-year-old girlfriend, who still slept with her teddy bear, so by the principle of transitivity he too slept with the teddy bear.