Ail win

Age appears to be catching up with your SSCP as an obstructive component of the lower back is currently inhibiting his mobility. The daily constitutional has been missed four days in a row. Pharmaceuticals have been brought to bear upon the issue; the intervention of a medical practitioner is even being considered. Nonetheless, the stooped gait and hunched appearance did not dissuade the callow youth at the check-out of Trader Joe's from demanding to see my I.D. as I attempted to purchase an alcoholic beverage - much to Dulcie's annoyance. I could not discern entirely if he was joking. Apparently he was not. And the preposterously patronizing "wine guy" in residence there persists in hailing me as "young man."

That's a very weak segue into a discussion of the writing talents of Alvin (or is it Allen?) Lee, the Buffalo Grove student who has now been permitted to return to school. Is sanity beginning to prevail there? What seemed to preoccupy correspondents to the Tribune was the putrid spelling in the piece written by a supposedly "straight A" student. Incorrect spelling of common words is so common these days as to be scarcely noteworthy. The readers should consider themselves lucky it wasn't written in text message speak. Apologists argue that it's all about the creative process. Some even question the need for punctuation. What should really concern those that care is really the utter bankruptcy of creativity in the work. Too often free expression is taken to mean anything that shocks and involves violence and/or sexual references. The student needs a suspension or psychological evaluation less than he needs to read a few real books. If I had been the recipient of that drivel, undoubtedly I would have been deeply offended, undoubtedly I would have torn it up and tossed it in the bin. I don't think I would have enlisted the help of the police in making that decision however.