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;void(0)) Sharon Jackson is the single parent of two teenagers: one 15 years old boy and the other a 17 year old girl. She complains about having to work a full-time job, then putting in about two evenings a week or on weekends as a clerical assistant at a law office, just to make ends meet. The youngest boy is having trouble at school and she feels guilty about never being able to attend any of her daughter’s cheerleading performances because of work obligations. Ms. Jackson comes from a large extended family. Her parents, like most of the people in her old neighborhood were working poor. However, the town was rich in cohesiveness and everyone seemed to know one another. Her parents’ house was always full of relatives and friends. Most of the neighbors were second and third generation residents. Mr. Cooper, the corner grocer, knew all of the local kids by name and was always good for some free gum balls when one of his youthful patrons produced a good report card. If her parents were not home for some reason, there was always a trusted adult to take her and her siblings in until they returned home. Today Sharon considers herself lucky to have a friend or two at work willing to talk with her at lunch about matters that are close to her. She maintains good contact with some family members and a friend or two from high school. Like so many Americans she works hard to be able to afford certain institutional replacements for what she once enjoyed for free. Instead of the neighborhood park she has to pay for her kids to attend a community center. Instead of a “Wise Old” neighbor or relative, to advise her on her son’s problems she has to pay for a therapist or tutor. A large chain store has replaced anything resembling Mr. Cooper’s store near to her subdivision. The kids complain that they cannot really get to know people in the subdivision because families tend to move so much. Since there is little or no public transportation, Sharon has to be available to drive the kids to wherever they have to go. Only a few decades ago, community was a fact of life for most of us. Today, about _ of American households consist of people living alone. It is common for families as well as singles to have little or no contact with others who live only a few doors away. Relatives and neighbors used to help each other give birth and - eventually – die at home. They nursed one another to health and took in orphaned children of relatives. Today institutions and professionals have taken on many of those roles. American culture has always placed a great deal of emphasis on the freedom associated with autonomy and ruthlessness. We like breaking away from the old and finding new frontiers. However, with every gain there is a loss. This may not be a complete tragedy. Many of these tight-knit communities were economically, racially, and emotionally limited (as discussed in the previous article, some remain that way). Outsiders were ostracized and viewed with suspicion. Today, there seems to be a desire, on the part of many Americans, to connect with others. This desire does not necessarily mean to run along the lines of the old close-knit neighborhood community. Thanks to the changes in our culture brought about by social, political, and technological innovations there are various forms of “communities” forming around us. We will discuss this further in next month’s edition of the Aton Project. Oh yeah, don't forget your autographed copy of “The Ackee Chronicles”. Tony VanSluytman - the Author Now let’s explore the solution to last month’s Ackee Quandaries. More of you had the answer than I had anticipated. Thank you for the overwhelming response.  QUESTION: Who murdered Peter Calloway, and how? ANSWER:If the poison was not administered by food, drink, or inhalation it must have been administered by touch, through the victim’s skin pores. The only thing that Calloway touched shortly before his demise that he hadn’t touched earlier, and that no one else had touched was the inside of the napkin served with his hor d’oeuvres. (Notice that Ms. Wayne was still holding a napkin.) Therefore this had been doctored with poison. The critical event was Calloway being bumped and spilling his champagne. Since he was not carrying a handkerchief he must have opened his napkin to wipe up the spill. Investigators found that Jackson was not in on the crime. Further investigation brought out the fact that Mr. Calloway, a gourmet cook in his own right had been in the process of writing his own cookbook.. Ms. Wayne’s publisher was thinking about setting up a major marketing campaign for his book while giving Ms. Wayne’s most recent book (like her last two) little to no attention. Ms. Wayne was convicted of murdering Mr. Calloway after feeling threatened by his book’s success. Newsletter Directory The Aton Project - Home Page Tony VanSluytman info Tony VanSluytman - the Author | Return Home | The BOOK DOCTOR | The BANYON NETWORK | The Banyon Buzz Newsletters | The Aton Project Newsletters | Contact Us | |
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