Generation X Read Free

thorns from their cactuses. "I've also noticed that they tend to throw out their houseplants rather than maintain them. God. I magine what their k i d s are like."
    Nonetheless, the three of us chose to live here, for the town is

    undoubtedly a quiet sanctuary from the bulk of middle-class life. And we certainly don't live in one of the dishier neighborhoods the town has to offer. No w a y . T h e r e a r e n e i g h b o r h o o d s h e r e , w h e r e , i f y o u s e e a glint in a patch of crew-cut Bermuda grass, you can assume there's a silver dollar lying there. Where w e live, in our little bungalows that share a courtyard and a kidney-shaped swimming pool, a twinkle in the grass means a broken scotch bottle or a colostomy bag that has avoided the trashman's gloved clutch.

    * * * * *
    The car heads out on a long stretch that heads toward the highway and Claire hugs one of the dogs that has edged its face in between the two f r o n t s e a t s . I t i s a f a c e t h a t n o w g r o v e l s p o l i t e l y b u t i n s i s t e n t l y f o r attention. She lectures into the dog's two obsidian eyes: "You, you cute little creature. You don't have to worry about having snowmobiles or cocaine or a third house in Orlando, Florida. That's right. No you don't.
    HISTORICAL SLUMMING:
    The act of visiting locations
    You just want a nice little pat on the head."
    such as diners, smokestack
    The dog meanwhile wears the cheerful, helpful look of a bellboy
    industrial sites, rural villages—in a foreign country who doesn't understand a word you're saying but locations where time appears to
    have been frozen many years
    who still wants a tip.
    back—so as to experience relief
    "That's right. You wouldn't want to worry yourself with so many when one returns back to "the
    things. And do you know why?" (The dog raises its ears at the inflection, present."
    giving the illusion of understanding. Dag insists that all dogs secretly BRAZILIFICATION: The
    speak the English language and subscribe to the morals and beliefs of widening gulf between the rich
    the Unitarian church, but Claire objected to this because she said she and the poor and the
    knew for a fact, that when she was in France, the dogs spoke French.) accompanying disappearance of
    the middle classes.
    " B e c a u s e a l l o f t h o s e o b j e c t s w o u l d o n l y m u t i n y a n d s l a p y o u i n t h e face. They'd only remind you that all you're doing with your life is VACCINATED TIME
    c o l l e c t i n g o b j e c t s . A n d n o t h i n g e l s e . "
    TRAVEL: To fantasize about
    traveling backward in time, but
    only with proper vaccinations.
    We live small lives on the periphery; we are marginalized and there's a great deal in which we choose not to participate. We wanted silence and we have that silence now. We arrived here speckled in sores and zits, our colons so tied in knots that we never thought we'd have a bowel movement again. Our systems had stopped working, jammed with the
    odor of copy machines, Wite-Out, the smell of bond paper, and the endless stress of pointless jobs done grudgingly to little applause. We had com-pulsions that made us confuse shopping with creativity, to take downers and assume that merely renting a video on a Saturday night was enough.
    But now that we live here in the desert, things are much, much better.

    At meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous, fellow drinksters will get angry with you if you won't puke for the audience. By that, I mean spill your g u t s —r e a l l y d r e d g e u p t h o s e r o t t e d b a s k e t s o f f e r m e n t e d k i t t e n s a n d
    murder implements that lie at the bottoms of all of our personal lakes.
    AA members want to hear the horror stories of how far you've sunk in I life, and no low is low enough. Tales of spouse abuse, embezzlement, and public incontinence are both appreciated and expected. I know this a s a f a c t b e c a u s e I ' v e
    b e e n t o t h e s e m e e t i n g s
    (lurid details of my