"When the Road Is Bent" is now complete

[ysabetwordsmith]

Thanks to a donation from Anthony & Shirley Barrette, you can now read the whole poem "When the Road Is Bent."  Learn what opportunities and complications the caravan has brought for Victor and Igor.

Comments

[corvi]

Is there another poem this one is a sequel to, with Alcot in it?

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Clyde and Alcot first appeared in "Out of His Head."

The gypsies

[dialecticdreamer]

At first, the glassblower's indifference really /ticked/ me off. Letting kids get hurt because "experience is the best teacher" is such an old-school STUPIDITY---

(rant omitted for brevity)

But then I thought about the kinds of persecutions the group faced. Playing the gruff /jerk/--- while everyone else in the caravan watched people's responses--- told them a LOT about the individuals in the village, because it showed (a) how they treated the local children, (b) what they /said/ about the person "responsible"-- I noticed that neither Victor nor Igor disparaged him, /just/ calling him old-fashioned. That's a far cry from the kind of casual bigotry that tended to exist. It also told them (c) who said one thing to their faces and another to the kids they thought had been "mistreated" by that mean-old-glassblower, and quite a lot about (d) whose kids belonged to whom, and how the villagers felt about /each other/, too.

It's a calculated move, and overall, the kids probably got small cuts that just needed to be cleaned and covered. I stopped counting /those/ injuries on my kids when they were three-ish. You know, the age where "Why?"is followed immediately in their "I'm a big kid" brain by /try it and see/.

Tactically, it gave the visitors the kind of information they /needed/ before deciding whether to trust the village with the stranger they'd committed to helping, and it also gave them a /very/ good gauge of whether the village should become a regular stop.

Personally, I'd love to see Igor or Denys bring some of the logic into an open discussion (not in front of the whole village, of course,) just to see differences and developments in the personalities all around.

Great, great poem. Thanks for posting it.

Re: The gypsies

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> At first, the glassblower's indifference really /ticked/ me off. Letting kids get hurt because "experience is the best teacher" is such an old-school STUPIDITY--- <<

Well, there is some truth to it. Kids need to learn about managing risk. I learned not to run across gravel in flip-flops after I removed the skin from both shins. Adventurous play inevitably brings a few bumps. The key is making sure it's age-appropriate risk that will yield only minor consequences if misjudged. Because if kids don't learn to avoid nicked fingers and skinned knees while growing up, then they arrive at adulthood without the skills to handle really major things like sex or guns.

Of course, the adult response is a matter of personal taste. I got plenty of sympathy from most people after removing all that skin from my legs. One advantage to raising kids in a communal environment is that they learn how to gauge personality -- that some people will let them take more risks than others, that some people will be more sympathetic than others, etc.

Or maybe that how you treat the old glassblower determines whether or not he gives you a hint about picking up glass chips with a scrap of leather instead of your bare hands. ;)

>> But then I thought about the kinds of persecutions the group faced. Playing the gruff /jerk/--- while everyone else in the caravan watched people's responses--- told them a LOT about the individuals in the village, <<

Yes, exactly. It also matters that the person in charge of setting up this particular opportunity isn't going to be hurt by it, and is capable of shrugging off the minor fallout rather than feeling horrible over a few scratches.

>> because it showed (a) how they treated the local children, (b) what they /said/ about the person "responsible"-- I noticed that neither Victor nor Igor disparaged him, /just/ calling him old-fashioned. That's a far cry from the kind of casual bigotry that tended to exist. <<

Sooth. Victor was aggravated rather than belligerent. He doesn't even know that "gypsy" is not the preferred term, although of course he knows they're not popular in most places. But there's a reason the castle was standing empty, and that Victor and Igor have fit in so well here, and that is this village happens to be slanted in a bit more tolerant direction.

>> It also told them (c) who said one thing to their faces and another to the kids they thought had been "mistreated" by that mean-old-glassblower, and quite a lot about (d) whose kids belonged to whom, and how the villagers felt about /each other/, too. <<

Yep. A glassblower learns to see clearly, even when things are heated.

>> It's a calculated move, and overall, the kids probably got small cuts that just needed to be cleaned and covered. <<

Correct. They're not going to find anything bigger than, literally, chips: pieces of coin-size or smaller. It's not like trying to pry glass shards out of a windowpane where you could slice your hand wide open. So the amount of damage that can be done is small. You learn that squeezing too hard will make gouges and sliding your finger along a glass edge will cut. And that it's prudent to use a stick to pry loose a glass chip stuck in packed dirt.

>> I stopped counting /those/ injuries on my kids when they were three-ish. You know, the age where "Why?"is followed immediately in their "I'm a big kid" brain by /try it and see/. <<

Yep. One interesting thing is that if an activity seems completely safe, kids will be much more reckless; whereas if there are obvious risks in sight, they will be much more cautious. The ordinary bumps and bruises acquired by "try it and see" soon teach kids how to be careful.

Victor, being a parent of only a baby, has not yet figured out what a comprehensive problem-solving exercise he is looking at here.

>> Tactically, it gave the visitors the kind of information they /needed/ before deciding whether to trust the village with the stranger they'd committed to helping, and it also gave them a /very/ good gauge of whether the village should become a regular stop. <<

Exactly. They scored well on the test, I'd say.

>> Personally, I'd love to see Igor or Denys bring some of the logic into an open discussion (not in front of the whole village, of course,) just to see differences and developments in the personalities all around. <<

Feel free to prompt for that later. It helps that Denis is not just a father but has much older kids.

>> Great, great poem. Thanks for posting it. <<

You're welcome!