so salinger turned in another stunning performance in class on thursday. the woman henceforth known as Hipster Mom, turned in a really beautiful story. it was about a teacher who was dealing with the possibility that the child she was carrying could have Cystic Fibrosis, a disease that had killed her brother. in the story Allison (the main charcter) is waiting for the results to find out if she’s a carrier (her husband had already been tested and was a carrier).

really, the story was awesome (until it fell apart at the end). the first time i read the story i was absolutely breathless, i couldn’t put it down. the discussion of the story went really well, until Salinger.

about 3/4 through the workshop Salinger pops up with how he thinks Allison was a totally unsympathetic character because she was worried about something she had no control over and there’s no sense bellyaching about it because there’s nothing she can do about it.

yeah.

he said worrying about and writing about how your baby may or may not have Cystic Fibrosis is akin to him writing about how bad hurricanes are. sure they’re bad but you gotta look on the brightside.

the brightside.

i think i might have turned purple, because i forgot to breathe i was so taken aback by his rude comment. being the class bully that i am, i think i started to sputter some kind of defense. i might have been totally incoherent at that point. i remember proclaiming things like “but it’s her life, her story” and “of course people do that, that’s real life.” but i don’t remember, because i was completely consumed by the veery real need to stand up and flick Salinger really hard right in the ear.

to be so arrogant to believe that everyone should see life through your very rosy glasses is just mind-boggling. but then to be even more arrogant to proclaim that people should only write about that which is rosy, happy, and stuff they can control. .. well it made my brain fall right out of my head.

poor Salinger, i actually feel a modicum of pity for him, because his story is due to be workshopped on Thursday. i’ve read the story, it’s not gonna be pretty.

i believe and i am sure other writers will back me up, if your whole story can be resolved by the main character saying ‘hey are you seeing someone else?’ then perhaps you don’t really have a story.

this is gonna be fun.