"A Fine Old Firm"
from The Lottery and Other Stories, by Shirley Jackson
Apparently it's about antisemitism. I don't know. It's very vague, if so. The awkwardness between the women of the two families was palpable-- but that kind of awkwardness between strangers (especially when someone drops in unannounced) seems... well, almost normal to me. (Of course, I'm more of a shy and "private" person than average. In person, that is. I have no trouble expressing myself to the world at large on the Internet-- but if someone so much as leaves a comment...) A degree of formality and stiffness shouldn't necessarily (and certainly not automatically) indicate racial/ethnic/cultural tensions, imho.
