[stylist] The Neighbors: A Parable

Sat Oct 29 16:43:16 UTC 2016

Perfect, grin.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Chris Kuell
via stylist
Sent: Saturday, October 29, 2016 12:36 AM
To: 'Writers' Division Mailing List' <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Chris Kuell <ckuell at comcast.net>
Subject: [stylist] The Neighbors: A Parable

The Neighbors: A Parable

The wise old teacher handed back the paper to his student, who scowled when
she saw all the red corrections.
“You don’t know everything,” she snapped. “My Mom and my friends love my
stories.”
“Of course they do,” he agreed. “My goal is to help you do even better.”
The unhappy student sat pouting with her lower lip out, incomprehension
obvious on her face.

“Once there were two neighbors,” her teacher said. “Neighbor A was walking
down the street and noticed that neighbor B was building a new deck on the
side of his house. Having some experience in deck building, neighbor A went
over for a chat. What he saw distressed him. Neighbor B’s idea was sound,
but his work was sloppy.
As he approached, neighbor B looked up from his work and said, “What do you
think?”
Being a kind man, neighbor A said, “I love the wood you picked, and I think
the size is just right. But, I can’t help but notice that you didn’t use
footings, and those two by fours aren’t strong enough to hold up all that
weight.”
Neighbor A glared in response. “What the hell do you know?” he said. “I’ve
never seen you build a deck before.”
“Actually,” neighbor A said. “I’ve built over 40 decks. I’ve made a pretty
good living at it. And, I’ve helped many of my friends with their decks, so
I do know what I’m talking about.”
“Yeah, right,” neighbor A retorted. “I don’t need no advice. I know what I’m
doing. I paid for this deck, and it’s a damn good deck.”
Neighbor A just smiled and continued on his way. A week later when he walked
by again, Neighbor B’s deck was a pile of lumber strewn against the lawn.
And neighbor B sat in the middle of the mess with a big, proud smile on his
face.”

“That story was stupid,” the student said.
“Perhaps,” her teacher said. “Just think it over, and maybe it will make
sense.”
  “Let me ask you something,” the student slid her big glasses back up her
nose. “You ever read Moby Dick?”
“I’d rather get a root canal,” the teacher replied. “That book was so boring
I only wish it covered how to tie a slip knot so I could hang myself.”
“How about that other guy, ya know, the Last of the Mohicans. James Fanny
More Cooper. Ever read his stuff?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” he said. “I think Mark Twain said it best--Cooper is
guilty of verbose writing, poor plotting, glaring inconsistencies, overused
clichés, cardboard characterizations, and a host of similar offenses."
“Yikes,” the girl said. 
Her teacher just smiled and moved on to the next student.

_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site
http://writers.nfb.org/
stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/bkpollpeter%40gmail.com