The waiter left, taking the order, and the plate of pie that was already on the table. it was uneaten and that made me notice things. the table was full of things, actually. entrees, desserts, drinks. there wasn’t much there that was left out of the menu, and I suspected that those excluded were just removed before.

the is tall, with long hair and fashionable clothes. I can’t see much from behind, but I can guess she is in her thirties. she bearly touches any of the food. all she does is look at the napkin that is spread in front of her. there is some kind of intricate diagram on that. a flow chart.

the lady traces her finger carefully , moves through arrows and squares, puzzles things, then goes back to this square or that. when the waiter arrives with the new order, a mouth-watering chocolate mousse, she consults the diagram, pays in cash, tips as well. the waiter asks, and takes something else off the table again. out of habbit, he asks will there be anything else, or will she want something more, which sends her again to consult the diagram. she reaches a certain square and orders something. completely oblivious. she orders, pays, gets food, sends food, she tips well, I think, cause the guy, is so happy.

this goes on and on, a parade of food is marched on and off the table, with little more than a casual nibble here or there.

I am watching this. this is insane! I can’t leave. she seems to be trapped in this flowchart loop thing. but I don’t dare disturb this. what if I make things worse? in the end, everybody has a right to both privacy, and to be weird.

finally it’s eleven, my cup of coffee is ancient history, and the stools on all the tables are sitting upside down on the top. the waiter approaches, and hesitantly tells her that it’s last call. she consults the diagram yet again, and asks the waiter “what is my name?” to which the guy replies: “Rose Ellison”. the lady traces her finger down the bottom of the napkin. I can’t restrain myself any longer, so I stand and peek. the square she points to goes : ” enquire what is your name” . I look above that; an arrow and a square: “you’re informed it’s closing time”.

finally, below the question of the name is a branching point. another two arrows: ” if your name is Rose , pay, tip and go home ” the other: “if waiter doesn’t know name, or name is not Rose, then demand to see an appointed representative of the Mazda car dealership. do not leave until a member arrives.”

the lady leaves. she doesn’t take the napkin. but there are more like it, to be sure.

encourages their base of 57 genders?

believes men can be pregnant?

demands you believe that a "trans" woman is a real woman?

fought for slavery, created the KKK, Jim Crow laws, and filibustered both the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but blames Republicans for each during a "switch" that never happened?

controls education, government, the media, but blames everyone else for systemic racism?

Is this the party that now wants to control all of the "misinformation" on the internet?

Get the spelling correct...

Science (n) - The observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanation of phenomena.

“$cience™” (n) - Absurd and often self-contradictory mythology spread by politicians to scare people into handing them more power.

Thank you, Danny Carlton

Jessica signed without reading.

A painful first lesson in the McGuire household.

One should know the difference between a maid position requiring the employee to have a sobriquet and a maid position requiring the employee to be a soubrette.

Jessica didn't speak a word of French.

But when she does learn, she will soon grasp meaning of the word, "soumise".

She then might enjoy her position even more.

As of tonight, by my count, I have read in excess of 20000 people on Prose.

Except they weren't all people.

In fact, the bulk majority of them are advertisements. By my count, nearly 13000.

That means 65% of Prose is set up as writers who are not writers, but salesmen.

That means only 35% of what I have seen in nearly 5 years are real stories written by real people. Some good, some great, some in that half of the class that makes the upper half possible.

Of those 35% of the 20000, over 70% are no longer active.

That leaves barely 2100 active Prose writers I have encountered.

Of this 2100, 75% have never written past 10 entries.

Thus, of the 20000 people I have read on Prose, only 500 or so are truly active.

That is around 2.5% of all of the Prose entries are real, active, and engaged on Prose.

Should this sample size be indicative of the whole, the 2.5% is also of the whole.

Why is this percentage so small?

Prose offers a multitude of services and opportunities for free.

There are brilliant works on Prose just waiting to be discovered (diamonds in the rough, so to speak). The work is worth the effort both in discovering such gems and in creating one for yourself.

If you are of the coveted 2.5% and you have a reason for the 2.5%, please reply. I cannot be the only one on Prose stymied by this math.

It has been over 100 years and the population of the world is still wearing masks and social distancing. Why? Because our government told us to. We want to be safe. We want all children to be safe. Our great-grandparents received a vaccination that wasn't really a vaccination, but politicians called it a vaccination and mandated that everyone receive it.

We did as we were told. We knew of no other way.

Today, in school, we are celebrating the great patriots who sacrificed to keep us safe for the last century. My teacher told us (last week) that sacrificing for the good of everyone, without question, is both a duty and a privilege. We should all be so fortunate to be subjects held in such high regard.

Our President for Life (no need for rigged elections for our rulers know what is best for all of us) will speak of changing the names of the original diseases and their variants to Greek letters. Since these countries originating these diseases no longer exist, there is no reason to remember them. One less thing to be tested on is a good thing. All hail our Great Leader in his infinite wisdom!

My teacher says if we all behave, our collective might be permitted out of this year's lockdown to go outside and see sunshine. My parents tell me stories of when they behaved in school and had access to this special field trip. I also want to see the Sun shine before I grow old.

I am so lucky to live in such enlightened times.