"Of Course"

"Of Course"
from The Lottery and Other Stories, by Shirley Jackson

Oh, hey, look!  It's James Harris, again! (Or rather, it's Mrs. Harris, telling us about her husband.)

Item #1:
"'Mr. Harris,' Mrs. Harris said carefully, 'feels that movies are intellectually retarding.  We do not go to movies.'"

Item #2:
"'Mr. Harris cannot bear the radio,' Mrs. Harris said. 'We do not own one, of course.'  'Of course,' Mrs. Tylor said. 'No radio.'"

Item #3:
"'Mr. Harris just feels that the newspapers are a mass degradation of taste.  You really never need to read a newspaper, you know.'"  --and--  "'Three times they deliberately left their New York Times on our doorstep.  Once James [their son] nearly go into it.'"  (Ha ha ha!  Well... These days, I mightn't want my innocent young child sullied by contact with the New York Times, either!)

Well...
There's not much to say.  I found it amusing, and I didn't blame Mrs. Tylor for planning to sneak out to the movies so she wouldn't be around when Mrs. Harris came back in the afternoon-- but she's going to have to deal with the Harris family, eventually.  Clearly, a confrontation will be inevitable, once Mr. Harris moves in.  (Such a coincidence that all their previous neighbors have been so awful, isn't it?)