There was a section in Chuck Palahniuk’s book where he listed problems a writer could have and solutions to it. It was fun, like moments when one doesn’t know what to do, or moments when one wonders what they are missing in their story telling. One of the least things he posed as problems and solutions was not feeling like you can write as good as Amy Hempel and the solution he offered was “nobody can.” It made me locate a book of hers I’m reading now. I see why he admires her. She has a story about working in an animal shelter that is amazing. Mob mentality is the scariest thing. I think it has always been with humanity. Pasonlini’s films made me see it when I was young working at a rep cinema. It might have been Medea but at one point the mob sacrifices a human. Now they should have better crop yields, right? Whether Kristallnacht or the Hamilton Tiger-Cats game Magali bought me for my birthday one year where Winnipeg schmiced them but very clearly we would be killed if I cheered unlike the pack. Beware the mob mentality.