Dorrier Underwood

It started with the strange gurgling sound from the downstairs toilet. The sound of a day going down the drain, I would later say, but at the moment it was just unusual. On her way out to Union County Melinda said, “Shut the lid.” How lame , I thought, shut the toilet lid to prevent overflowing? Doesn’t she know there’s a big gap between the seat and the toilet? I heard it again, as we both watched the big white truck with the green sign saying Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utility stopped in front of our house. Two men bundled against the cold—it had been 25º at dawn—gripped an orange hose on a reel and fed it into the sewer drain they’d taken the lid off of. I waved bye to Melinda, and looking at the truck, she shouted through the passenger window to me, “Shut the lid!” Walking back inside, I muttered to myself, “Whatever, okay, I’ll close it.” A few minutes later I heard a new sound, pouring water, no… spraying water! My god, the water is coming out...

A good compromise is supposed to leave no one happy. The lack of one does the same thing. I don’t know where I read this but it certainly makes sense. Happy isn’t the goal of a compromise. Action is, moving forward is, taking new ground is…  The NHL (National Hockey League/ owners) and the NHLPA (National Hockey League Players Association/ union) don’t seem to want compromise, even though they say they do… They want happy… Both sides want happy, and that apparently mean someone wins, someone loses.  Right now it looks as if there will be no hockey, even a shortened season, because both sides want what they want. The fans suffer, the owners are losing money this year, and the players aren’t getting paid…nonetheless, no compromise. Our Congress doesn’t want compromise on the fiscal cliff issue; both sides want happy. And there really is no way for this whole issue to be resolved without a compromise. We can’t do exactly what both sides want, so there has to be give and ta...