Tales of Two Cities

A Good Laugh Was Had By All

It was quite unexpected.  One of my Two Cities made news worldwide last week and quickly became a laughing stock.  I've been trying since the incident to write about Boston's  fame (or infamy, depending on your point of view), but it has been hard.  I can't seem to stop laughing long enough to metaphorically put pen to paper.

By now everyone surely knows that the brouhaha was caused by an ad campaign promoting a TV show: Aqua Teen Hunger Force on Turner Broadcasting's Cartoon Network. The so-called guerrilla marketing campaign featured small boxes (Turner calls them "light boards") placed throughout Boston and other US cities sporting flashing cartoon characters, most of them fast food items: Master Shake (a milk shake), Frylock (a package of french fries with a goatee and braces), Meatwad (a meatball), and Carl (a human).

Once the suspicious boxes were reported to authorities, the city sprang into action with a full post-9/11 response.  Streets and part of the Charles River were closed to traffic.   Fear and worry rippled through the city and surrounding areas. The bomb squad blew up one of the cute blinking boxes, confirming that it was not a bomb.  Eventually, the facts sorted themselves out and many, many hours later Boston returned to normal.

Really.  Be honest.  What would you have thought? There is no logical reason why terrorists couldn't chose to put a flashing drawing of a box of fast food french fries on their bombs as a way to make people think they were just cute little advertisements.  Maybe we should all be laughing at the cities that didn't react to protect the safety of their citizens.  Our mayor believes that they were the ones who should be subject to derision, not Boston.

But we are not laughing at those other cities.  We're laughing at Boston.

Yesterday Turner Broadcasting agreed to pay local governments and agencies $2 million, half to cover actual costs of the police response  and half to be used for emergency preparedness programs. As part of the settlement, making it very clear that Boston is bristling at being the brunt of so many jokes, Turner Broadcasting stated:

  "We understand now that in today's post-Sept. 11 environment, it was reasonable and appropriate for citizens and law enforcement officials to take any perceived threat posed by our light boards very seriously and to respond as they did."

Almost a week has passed and with time has come perspective.  Boston officials may lack a sense of humor, but the city got a chance to test its response capabilities without it costing the taxpayers a cent.  Seems to me that Boston should be laughing too -- all the way to the bank. 

 

Giving Thanks

We awoke on Thanksgiving morning to find snow on the cars parked along Commonwealth Avenue and a light rain falling.  Although the weather was forecast to improve during the day, we decided to leave extra early for the drive to our daughter's house in Princeton, Massachusetts.  She, her husband and The Adorable One live northwest of Worcester and, on a good day, the drive is at least an hour and fifteen minutes one way.  By the time we got on the road the temperature was into the 40s and all signs of snow had disappeared in the city.  As we traveled west, however, more and more of the ground was covered by snow.

This is what it looked like along Route 2 in Acton. (Double clicking on a photo will let you see it in a larger size. Just be sure to use the "back" key to get back to the blog.)

By the time we got to Princeton we were driving on slippery roads and in light snow. It was beautiful, though, as you can see from this picture taken near my daughter's home.  (The sign on the tree says "No Swimming," definitely an unnecessary prohibition at this time of year.)

We brought my (in) famous tomato casserole (really a tomato bread pudding) and Charles' mincemeat pie with hard sauce (butter, powdered sugar and vanilla extract).  Plus some wine.  The rest was provided by Elizabeth and Steve who had spent much of Wednesday cooking and what a feast it was. Emily, just one day short of being 18 month's old, sat in a booster chair at the table and enjoyed the thanksgiving dinner with us.  She likes almost everything, although she didn't care much for the yummy garlic mashed potatoes. 

After eating, we sat around talking and watching early episodes of the first season of Lost, an ABC television show with which Charles and I were not familiar.  Some of us got to chase around after Emily who was full of her usual cheerful energy. The picture at the beginning of this post was taken of her sitting on her father's lap in a rare quiet moment.  In it she looks much older and thoughtful than usual giving a glimpse of girl/woman she will become.  It takes my breath away.

It was altogether a good day.  Quiet, warm and relaxed.  A perfect Thanksgiving which reminded me to give thanks for my family.  For my amazing daughter, her wonderful husband and The Adorable One. For my son in Tallahassee who is involved in exciting work in his field and of whom we are so proud. For my husband, who cheerfully serves as my faithful Sherpa and cheerleader.  For distant siblings:  my sister, Gery, and my brother Jim, whom I will soon see in California, and my Texas brother Bob who is about to embark on a whole new life on a boat in the Caribbean.  Finally, I gave thanks for friends and the many acquaintances who have helped and continue to help make my voyage through life enjoyable and rewarding.