Slog - Comments on Life's Great Difficulty

Comment by monkey

monkey — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 10:09:29 -0800

Sometimes I die just to be difficult.

Comment by Mr. Poe

Mr. Poe — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 10:11:30 -0800

Surprisingly difficult. How rude.

Comment by JenK

JenK — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 10:15:00 -0800

When I first saw Jonah's story I thought of Small Town by Lawrence Block: The serial killer needs a place to stay. Everyone's looking for him. So he "tailgates" behind a woman entering her apartment building; forces his way into her apartment; kills her; puts her in the tub; and adds cold water and ice for the next week to keep the smell down.

He also feeds her cat, because it's easy. That cat's not going to call the cops.

When I read Small Town, I thought, "Cold. Practical, and cold. Emphasizes that the killer may be killing for crazy reasons, but he's still a good problem-solver. Oh, and ew. Glad that's not real life."

Of course, now it is real life.

Comment by Lindy

Lindy — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 10:20:27 -0800

I like this post.

Comment by NapoleonXIV

NapoleonXIV — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 10:31:25 -0800

God, I hate it when that happens.

Comment by Jonah S

Jonah S — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 10:33:02 -0800

Josh thinks Lou Reed's Street Hassle shares some similarities with this story too.

Comment by adrian!

adrian! — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 10:43:50 -0800

that totally happened to me one time.

Comment by NapoleonXIV

NapoleonXIV — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 10:53:10 -0800

Well, kudos to you for at least taking care of the cat!

Comment by brad

brad — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 11:37:11 -0800

Sounds like a sequel idea for Risky Business 2. Tom Cruise getting interviewed by Princeton U while there's a party going on w/ hookers who wont leave, but the twist is now that there's a dead hooker in the bathtub and the princeton guy has to take a pee. What's Tom going to do next?

Comment by Touring

Touring — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 11:37:29 -0800

OK, so the son complained about your story. Well wasn't the woman reportedly a prostitute? Some supportive son he must be. When he goes pointing a finger of blame at the Stranger you forget there are four fingers pointed right back at 'cha.

Comment by -B-

-B- — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 12:44:35 -0800

Stop being soooo Difficult!
All you do is lay around here doing nothing!
You are dead weight to me.
Geeesh get a life!

Comment by Gitai

Gitai — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 14:58:57 -0800

She wasn't be difficult. He was refusing to take advantage of the system our society has set up to shield us from the dead and their burdens. If he'd called the police, the coroner would have come and removed the body. Upon being claimed by the family, it would have been taken by an undertaker to a funeral home, where she would have been made to look like she "was just sleeping." She would have been buried, and only occasionally thought of.

If you compare this to the systems for disposing of the dead in other societies (hiring professional mourners, donning special clothing for long periods of time, throwing yourself upon the pyre of your dead husband), we've minimized the inconvenience of a corpose in the room to the point that getting your cable fixed is a bigger imposition.

Comment by maxsolomon

maxsolomon — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 16:59:05 -0800

if he stashed his dope outside his apt., where is the danger is calling the cops?

nothing proves they had an illegal transaction.

Comment by Vooodooo84

Vooodooo84 — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 21:07:36 -0800

love the last three sentences