Several news outlets reported today that Zimbabwe has has shut down all aid groups serving its grossly poor population. The announcement came on the heels of reports that some American and British diplomats were detained for several hours following a six mile high-speed chase only days after the American ambassador to Zimbabwe criticized its former president and current dictator for his gross and violent abuse of power.
Surely, this is news that should alarm us. This is front page news, right? (Sigh.)
No, water cooler talk today was instead filled with autopsy reports on the long-awaited close of Hillary Clinton's one-woman act, "Dead Candidacy Walking." There were gasps and blank stares of bewilderment when details of television journeyman Ed McMahon's financial situation were mentioned. And then, as if in unison, mouths were frantically covered with cupped hands when my boss revealed that McMahon had also recently broken his neck. ("He must have fallen down the stairs. Old people always fall down the stairs." one participant observed. "And maybe those checks are heavier than they look.")
The oldest guy in our group, looking a little nervous, quickly changed the subject. "Oh, and the NBA Finals start tonight! Boston and LA? Are you kidding me? It's like old times, man! What? The Stanley Cup is already over? Who won? Shit, I hate Detroit. Detroit sucks."
At lunch we discussed reality television - not for the first time, of course. Everyone agreed that "Living Lohan" is so distasteful as to warrant fewer than five minutes of wasted attention. "It's Complicated," the new psuedo-voyeuristic program that follows the sham that is Denise Richards' life, on the other hand, is well worth our time.
"She's a train-wreck!" someone said in a tone normally reserved for the parts in movies where a symphony belts out "Ode to Joy" in the background. I took a final bite of my sandwich when the conversation shifted to Richards' hair. My co-worker's matter-of-fact delivery of "It's definitely fake," was followed by a flurry of nodding heads and verbal agreements. The aura of resentment in the room was palpable.
It was then that I thought about bringing up the news from Africa. "Oh, yeah, but did I mention that Zimbabwe thing?" I'd say. "I think it's kind of a big deal. This guy lost an election and now he's terrorizing opposition leaders and capturing American and British diplomats. And to reduce further infringement by foreigners, he's kicking out all the aid groups that provide nearly 2 million people with enough food to survive on a daily basis."
I began to open my mouth, but thought better of it - everyone was ready to get back to their desks. And anyway, we had moved on to something more interesting.
