A Quandary

So there I am at the license bureau, waiting to take my driver’s test, and soon I get the sneaking suspicion I’ve been sitting there a wee bit too long. I’ve grown tired of my Queen Victoria biography so there’s nothing to do but grieve at the lack of service. Oh how I grieve and how boring such a process is. Then I realize that’s it: I’m just plain bored. The place is jam packed with potential customers all waiting like me and possibly bored as well though for all I know they get their kicks from the slow tick of time and watching flies crawl up the walls.

What causes the wait and the wonder? The place is severely understaffed and the electricity goes off periodically. Those who moan and groan through such service may seethe, a few go to the desk and complain and soon a terrible thought dawns: has the Third World come home? Has our lifestyle been reduced to this level?

Well not quite. What we’re witnessing is the results of the economy: a tight budget. And in all seriousness the place is open during daylight hours, no guards beat up complainers and the water fountains actually contain water.

So it’s better than being marooned in the Middle East which is why so many inhabitants of such regions come here. Immigration persists. But how can this country sustain its level of perfection if we’re flooded with the very cause of the third world’s diminished quality: the sad saps who run it? White people have built the world’s most successful societies for which we should be proud and protective of. You can take that down Buster!

Relationship Dynamics as Expressed in "The Clock": a 1945 Movie Starring Judy Garland and Robert Walker

Jon-Erik Nordquist

1) Joe (Walker) arrives in New York on military leave and meets Alice (Garland) at Grand Central Station when she bumps into him, breaks her high heeled shoe and is swept up an escalator. We see here man and woman drawn together by forces they can't comprehend and set in motion towards true love.

2) Joe immediately warms to the task of caring for this new female he's encountered; calming her emotional outbursts, guiding her away from the maddening city crowd and arranging for a speedy shoe repair. And he's the one who can't see the city for the skyscrapers! She lives there.

3) Joe and Alice visit a history museum, ask questions of each other and discuss their ambitions in life. This intriguing social phenomenon is called "a date" and is known in cultured circles for being a perfect way to “get to know one another better”; the knowing in this case being more than a five minute bore in some crummy hotel room. Some guys really want a friend to confide in. It's a human thing that can be understood with a little effort.

4) After an ambiguous parting Joe and Alice eventually meet under a clock. She choose to come back to him which means she must really see something in this down to earth guy. Joe gets a woman's full attention! They ought to give medals for that. Alice's fortyish dress clothes leave nearly all of her to the imagination except for her pretty vibrant face which is the only part of her our dear soldier should fixate his eyes on for the present. Can't rush these things you know!

5) Joe and Alice are alone in a park. Romantic music swells in the background with the chirping of offscreen chorus girls as that special touch that makes everything right. The two lock eyes and then arms and lips in a truly marvelous kissing embrace. They are one, if only for one glorious instant. But the repression of everyday life sets in as they try to find their way home in the darkness. Joe passionately craves the gentle pleasures of Alice's feminine flesh but he doesn't know it because he's such a gentleman. Alice wants Joe to be the father of her baby but she doesn't know it either.

6) Joe and Alice are separated in the hustle and bustle of the subway. With a good thing gone they risk life and limb in that steel and asphalt wilderness of a city. They now know they are in love, long after us, and want desperately to be together again to fight off the repression. They do finally meet again and decide to get married immediately which they do after much screwball movie hilarity. Getting married was never so much fun!

7) After their marriage Joe and Alice are alone in a hotel room swathed in night clothes and eating breakfast. They have looks of relaxed satisfaction in their faces after what we assume is a successful night of love making. Now Joe can finish the war in peace.