CULTURAL NORMS

😍 I like people, and I'm intensely interested in them, but I do a double-take when accosted by a stranger. If he has sufficient reason, it's fine, like maybe my pants are on fire. If not, he is rude and aggressive and not to be encouraged.

One does not approach strangers where I come from. That's where broken noses are born.

I'm picking berries one day when a stranger, a young man, maybe 35, comes sidling up, very hesitant, to say, 'Please excuse me for bothering you but could you tell me please what kind of berry you are picking?'

'Certainly', I sez. 'I'm picking red currants, also known as high-bush cranberries. They're not a desirable berry, but useful as a filler for cranberry sauce.'

'What's a cranberry?' he says, I swear to God.

So, I told him all about cranberries and Thanksgiving and we jawed awhile and parted fast friends.