Leading in a Changing World Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Leading in a Changing World - Essay Example The theory holds that at least some activities are morally necessary irrespective of their magnitudes for human welfare (Isaacs, 2014, pp.96). In Teleological ethic, it is a theory of morals that originates duty responsibility from what is decent or necessary as a goal to be attained (Hurley, 2014, pp.225). In order for me to define the complex leadership ethics, I have chosen the leadership grid as my model for leadership in my industrial enterprise. A study done came up with four types of leaders; authoritarian, country club, improvised and team leader. In team leadership, study showed that they were high on tasks and high in relationship. The leaders govern by positive example and strive to raise a team environment so that every team member is able to reach his/her topmost potential, both as team fellows and as people. They inspire the group to reach objectives as efficiently as possible, while at the same time working hard to empower the links among the different members. Under a uthoritarian leadership, they were high on tasks and low on relationships. The leaders are more of task focused and are tough towards the workers. For country club leaders, they are more focused on team towards achieving set goals and use award power to ensure discipline. An impoverished leader is not committed to their work achievement or maintenance, and instead allows the team to do as they see fit. As a result, they are both low in task and relationship (Singh, 2009, pp.72). In 2007, Southwest airlines was involved in a scandal that involved the airline allowing 59 00 flights without carrying out adequate regulations and checkups as required by the Federal Aviation Administrations. On top of that, even after realizing their mistake, they allowed, 1 452 more flights. This violated the flight’s ethics and also endangered the lives to the general public.

Introduction to Project Managment Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Introduction to Project Managment - Assignment Example In this scenario our project main responsibility involves installation of artificial ice rinks. For this reason we will manage and plan the overall project for the enhanced performance. The main aim and objective of this project is to present a better handling, management and support for the establishment of the winter themed event at the new holiday park. For this project we are aimed to offer better facilities of project management and handling for the better performance of the overall project. In this scenario we are indentured to complete the project with the given cost and time based constraints. This will offer us a better opportunity for the overall successful completion of project. Here we will also encourage the project HR for the showing their best performance for a great deal of enhanced and successful project completion. In this project we are having a number of main project stockholders. In this scenario main project stockholders are having main intention for the project successful completion with the minimum disturbance to local residential areas. Here below I have outlined some of main project stockholders: There are lots of risks involved in every project. Here successful project management is about the effective management and handling of main project activities and tasks on time. This project for the Ice Rinks is also having some of main project risks and issues those are outlined below: Budgetary Risks: There is a number of project cost and budgetary risks at any project in case of our project for installation artificial ice rinks is also involving some of main project cost based risks. This project is going to held for 2 days. In this short time period we can take risks regarding effective resource availability. For this reason we need to invest in great deal of much better way. This can lead to overall high cost of effective project management that can cause overall project

Ansoffs Matrix - Planning fo Growth Essay Example for Free

Ansoffs Matrix Planning fo Growth Essay This well known marketing tool was first published in the Harvard Business Review (1957) in an article called Strategies for Diversification. It is used by marketers who have objectives for growth. Ansoffs matrix offers strategic choices to achieve the objectives. There are four main categories for selection. Ansoffs Product/Market Matrix Market Penetration Here we market our existing products to our existing customers. This means increasing our revenue by, for example, promoting the product, repositioning the brand, and so on. However, the product is not altered and we do not seek any new customers. Market Development Here we market our existing product range in a new market. This means that the product remains the same, but it is marketed to a new audience. Exporting the product, or marketing it in a new region, are examples of market development. Product Development This is a new product to be marketed to our existing customers. Here we develop and innovate new product offerings to replace existing ones. Such products are then marketed to our existing customers. This often happens with the auto markets where existing models are updated or replaced and then marketed to existing customers. Diversification This is where we market completely new products to new customers. There are two types of diversification, namely related and unrelated diversification. Related diversification means that we remain in a market or industry with which we are familiar. For example, a soup manufacturer diversifies into cake manufacture (i.e. the food industry). Unrelated diversification is where we have no previous industry nor market experience. For example a soup manufacturer invests in the rail business. Ansoffs matrix is one of the most well know frameworks for deciding upon strategies for growth.

History of African American Voters

History of African American Voters In the year of 1619, American citizens decided that the new and accepted way of life was to force African citizens into slavery by kidnapping them and bringing them by ship to the land now known as the United States. These groups of people initially were brought to the North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia. They ended up becoming property and sold as slaves to their white owners. Slave-owners needed and depended on their property to aid in the production of lucrative crops such as tobacco, indigo and cotton. This went on for over 200 years. The northern and southern colonies did not agree on many laws. There was a big disagreement regarding slavery. It brought about the Civil War that took place between 1861 and 1865. Many changes took place. Slavery was supposed to be abolished. When the war was over, African Americans were not readily told that they were free to leave the plantations that they considered to be their homes. Slave masters were afraid that if they left, they would not be able to plant and harvest their crops that they depended on for income. When the freed slaves found out that they could leave the plantations, they realized that they had nowhere to go. Some were satisfied with that and simply set out to go north where they hoped to settle down in any land of prosperity. Others took offers to remain on the plantations and work the land in exchange for food and a place to live. They were not given property to claim as their own. They were only given promises. Everyday life seemed the same. Nothing changed. From about 1900 to 1965, most African Americans were not allowed to vote in the South. When they tried to vote, they were threatened, beaten, and sometimes killed. Many of their homes were burned down or they were thrown off of the land that they lived on. Because most African Americans could not and did not attend school, they were illiterate and were not allowed to vote. Many states allowed only property owners to vote. There were instances where jars were filled with gumballs and the African Americans were told that they could vote if they were able to correctly guess the number of gumballs in the jars. Southern states required African Americans to pay a tax to vote. Laws were enacted that said that people who had gone to prison were not allowed to vote. African Americans were very often arrested on charges for minor offenses to prevent them from voting. Charges were as petty as dropping a peanut shell on the ground or driving with a light out on their vehicle. The police usually knocked the light out after making the arrest. The Voting Rights Act was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson on August 6, 1965. It was supposed to help with barriers to voting at the state and local levels for African Americans who could not exercise their right to vote as given in the 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. There were not as many problems involved in trying to vote in national elections. News reports citing stories of voter suppression and disenfranchisement of African Americans during the general election that took place in November 2016 captured headlines for months. It was alleged that African Americans faced some of the same obstacles that they did before the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was enacted. African Americans are not represented as they should be when making decisions of who they want to represent them in government. The field is not level and it sometimes causes apathy when it is perceived that their voices will not be heard. Because African Americans are disproportionately likely to be in prison, they are particularly affected by the restriction of voting rights. According to Recoquillon, C. Sydenham, K., (2017): Felon disenfranchisement laws disproportionately affect ethnic minority communities on a national level. A higher rate of incarceration among the black and Latino populations leads directly to higher disenfranchisement rates. As a Human Services Professional, my starting point towards advocacy and social change would be to comprise a group of employers, community leaders and resources to formally address this problem of voter disenfranchisement and other barriers such as lack of job training and housing for felons when they re-enter society. These are all areas that are decided at the state level. Statewide statistics would have to be completed to show that felony disenfranchisement is severely increased by racial disparities in the criminal justice system. A finding would need to be made to show that these laws could be declared not permissible under certain articles of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. A meeting could then be held to lobby local and state congressional members representing certain districts to ask for changes within the state laws regarding fully reinstating rights of felons in the state to participate in these areas. Things are too reminiscent of the days when African Americans were charg ed with crimes just to keep them from voting and playing a role in society that could benefit their lives. Because of my being a part of this diverse group, African American, some may feel that my advocating for this social change may reflect an unjust preference for this historically oppressed group of people. Also many problems and challenges arise with governmental regulations and perceptions of what state representatives and other resource personnel feel should be addressed by human service personnel. They sometimes feel that getting into matters affecting laws and regulations are not within their scope of practice or knowledge. Due to the complex duties of human service professionals on a day to day basis, ethical standards are provided for guidance when dealing with many situations. The preamble of the Code of Ethics for social workers set guidance to be followed. It is very helpful for review when a supervisor is not available. References Recoquillon, C. Sydenham, K. Humanity In Action Inc. Democracys Punishment: Felon  Disenfranchisement. (2017). Retrieved from  http://www.humanityinaction.org/knowledgebase/181-democracy-s-punishment-felon-disenfranchisement

Charlotte Brontes Childhood Influences to Become a Writer :: Charlotte Bronte Author Essays

Charlotte Bronte's Childhood Influences to Become a Writer Charlotte was born to in 1816 in Yorkshire to Patrick Bronte and his wife. She was one of six children, an averaged size family in those days. The family were moved to Haworth (a small village in the west Yorkshire moors) in 1820. Sadly a year later Mrs Bronte died leaving the six children in her sisters care. Charlotte had to cope with the death of a mother when she was very young and the death of her two elder sisters a few years later. She had to learn to care for herself and to be more independent. This may have helped Charlotte to be able to empathise with the feelings that arise when somebody dies. In later years she was then able to use these feeling in her novels. Having to be independent may have helped her to be able to make up the character Jane Eyre as she was in a similar situation to as Charlotte, having to learn to care for herself and having to cope with the death of a parent. In 1824 Charlotte was sent to boarding school with three of her four sisters. The appalling conditions at the school had a long term affect on the two elder sisters and this is where Maria and Louisa died. After the death of Maria and Louisa Charlottes father brought all his children home. Charlotte made this school the model for Lowood institute in Jane Eyre. So although she had been through horrible times she was able to use them to her advantage. After their mother and two eldest children had died, Charlotte was left with her sisters Emily and Anne and brother Branwell to the care of their father, and their strict, religious aunt, Elisabeth Branwell. The children created imaginary kingdoms, which were built around Branwell's toy soldiers, and which inspired them to write stories about the fantasylands of Angria and Gondal. Charlotte had a very big imagination at an early age and having a brother and sister that shared this imagination helped her to expand on it. All of Mr Brontes children were encouraged to read widely.The Bronte children were avid readers and they loved to make up stories and then share them with each other. In later life Charlotte started a new school and after she had left the school she then returned to it a few years later as a teacher. She was able to practice her writing skills and learn how to teach them to others. In 1841 Charlotte became a pupil at the Maison d'education pour les jeunes, in Brussels.

Mla Exercise

Exercises Using MLA Works Cited Source: Arkin, Marian, and Cecillia Macheski. Research papers: A Practical Guide. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Company. 2001. Directions: Using the following information, create a Works Cited entry for these sources. Important words have been capitalized. Remove or change the capitals and use MLA style of capitalization and punctuation. After you have the entry for each source, arrange them in alphabetical order as they would appear at the end of a research paper on the Works Cited page. 1. The title of the book is W. E. B. DUBOIS. The book was published in BOSTON in 1986 by TWAYNE Publishers.The author’s name is MARABLE MANNING. Manning, Marable. W. E. B. Dubois. Boston: Twayne, 1986. Print. 2. An article entitled SIX CENTS AN HOUR was written by SYDNEY H. SCHANBERG. This article was published in LIFE magazine. It appeared in the JUNE 1996 issue on pages 38-46. Schanberg, Sydney H. â€Å"Six Cents an Hour. †Ã‚  Life  June 1996: 38-46. Prin t. 3. MARY LAWLER’S book called MARCUS GARVEY was published in NEW YORK by CHELSEA HOUSE publishers in the year 1988. Lawler, Mary. Marcus Garvey. New York: Chelsea House, 1988. Print. 4. This book was published by PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS, which is located in PRINCETON, New Jersey.It was written my Myron Weiner. Wiener’s book was called THE CHILD AND THE STATE IN INDIA: CHILD LABOR AND EDUCATION POLICY IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE. It appeared in 1991. Weiner, Myron. The Child and the State in India: Child Labor and Education Policy in Comparative Perspective. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1991. Print. 5. An article entitled INDIA BATTLES ILLEGAL CHILD LABOR appeared in the newspaper the CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR. It was published on November 8, 1995 and the article begins on page 9. â€Å"India Battles Illegal Child Labor. †Ã‚  Christian Science Monitor  8 Nov. 1995: 9. Print. 6.This article came from Ebscohost from NCLive. The author’s name is SALLY RICHF IELD. The article name is HOW HIGH THE DOVE FLIES. The article’s volume and issue number are 1. 5. The date of online publication is August 10, 2000. The name of the online journal is BIRDS ARE US. The sponsor of the site from which you got this information is Stanly Community College in Albemarle, NC. The date of access is November 2, 2001 Richfield, Sally. â€Å"How High the Dove Flies. †Ã‚  Birds Are Us  1. 5 (2000): n. pag. NC Live. Web. 2 Nov. 2001. 7. This article came from a scholarly journal the pages issues separately.The author’s names are RODNEY MONTGOMERY and MAUREEN FOSTER. The article’s name is DYSFUNCTION IN UNIVERSITY MANAGEMENT IN NEW SOUTH WALES IN 1947 AND 1983. The name of the journal was THE JOURNAL OF HIGHER EDUCATION MANAGEMENT. The issue number is 43. 2. The year of publication is 1989 and the pages run from page 6-17. Montgomery, Rodney, and Maureen Foster. â€Å"Dysfunction in University Management in New South Wales in 1947 a nd 1983. †Ã‚  Journal of Higher EducationManagement  43. 2 (1989): 6-17. Print. 8. This source comes from a CD-ROM. Its editor is SONALD SHEEHY. The name of the CD-ROM is ROBERT FROST: POEMS, LIFE AND LEGACY.This CD-ROM was published in NEW YORK by HOLT in 1997. Sheehy, Sonald. ed. Robert Frost: Poems, Life, and Legacy. New York: Holt, 1997. CD-ROM 9. This source is a personal or professional web site. The authors are STEVE SPANOUDIS, BOB BLAI, and NELSON MILLER. The site’s name is POET’S CORNER. The publication date is February 2, 1998. The user’s date of access is February 4, 2000. The URL is http://www. geocities. com/. apanoudi/poems. Spanoudis, Steve, Bob Blai, and Nelson Miller. Poet's Corner, 2 Feb. 1998. Web. 4 Feb. 2000. 10. This source is an online book. The original date of publication of the book is 1846.The author’s name is CHARLOTTE BRONTE. The name of the book is JANE EYRE. The user access date is March 16, 1999. The site is gopher. vt. edu:10010/02/50/1. Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. 1846. Web. 16 Mar. 1999. Works Cited Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. 1846. Web. 16 Mar. 1999. â€Å"India Battles Illegal Child Labor. †Ã‚  Christian Science Monitor  8 Nov. 1995: 9. Print. Lawler, Mary. Marcus Garvey. New York: Chelsea House, 1988. Print. Manning, Marable. W. E. B. Dubois. Boston: Twayne, 1986. Print. Montgomery, Rodney, and Maureen Foster. â€Å"Dysfunction in University Management in New South Wales in 1947 and 1983.   Journal of Higher EducationManagement  43. 2 (1989): 6-17. Print. Richfield, Sally. â€Å"How High the Dove Flies. †Ã‚  Birds Are Us  1. 5 (2000): n. pag. NC Live. Web. 2 Nov. 2001. Schanberg, Sydney H. â€Å"Six Cents an Hour. †Ã‚  Life  June 1996: 38-46. Print. Sheehy, Sonald. ed. Robert Frost: Poems, Life, and Legacy. New York: Holt, 1997. CD-ROM Spanoudis, Steve, Bob Blai, and Nelson Miller. Poet's Corner, 2 Feb. 1998. Web. 4 Feb. 2000. Weiner, Myron. The Child and the State in India: Child Labor and Education Policy in Comparative Perspective. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1991. Print.

The Stupidest Angel Chapter 5

Chapter 5 THE SEASON FOR MAKING NEW FRIENDS Theo was doing fifty up Worchester Street when the blond man stepped from behind a tree into the street. The Volvo had just lurched over a patched strip in the asphalt, so the grille was pointed up and caught the blond man about hip-high, tossing him into the air ahead of the car. Theo stood on the brake, but even as the antilocks throbbed, the blond man hit the tarmac and the Volvo rolled over him, making sickening crunching and thumping noises as body parts ricocheted into wheel wells. Theo checked the rearview as the car stopped and saw the blond man flopping to a stop in the red wash of the brake lights. Theo pulled the radio off his belt as he leaped from the car, and stood ready to call for help when the figure lying in the road started to get up. Theo let the radio fall to his side. â€Å"Hey, buddy, just stay right there. Just stay calm. Help is on the way.† He started loping toward the injured man, then pulled up. The blond guy was on his hands and knees now; Theo could also see that his head was twisted the wrong way and the long blond hair was cascading back to the ground. There was a crackling noise as the guy's head turned around to face the ground. He stood up. He was wearing a long black coat with a rain flap. This was â€Å"the suspect.† Theo started backing away. â€Å"You just stay right there. Help is on the way.† Even as he said it, Theo didn't think this guy was interested in any help. The foot that faced backward came around to the front with another series of sickening crackles. The blond man looked up at Theo for the first time. â€Å"Ouch,† he said. â€Å"I'm guessing that smarted,† Theo said. At least his eyes weren't glowing red or anything. Theo backed into the open door of the Volvo. â€Å"You might want to lie down and wait for the ambulance.† For the second time in as many hours, he wished he had remembered to bring his gun along. The blond man held an arm out toward Theo, then noticed that the thumb on the outstretched hand was on the wrong side. He grabbed it with his other hand and snapped it back into place. â€Å"I'll be okay,† the blond man said, monotone. â€Å"You know, if that coat dry-cleans itself while I'm watching, I'll nominate you for governor my own self,† Theo said, trying to buy time while he thought of what he was going to say to the dispatcher when he keyed the button on the radio. The blond man was now coming steadily toward him – the first few steps limping badly, but the limp getting better as he got closer. â€Å"Stop right there,† Theo said. â€Å"You are under arrest for a two-oh-seven-A.† â€Å"What's that?† asked the blond man, now only a few feet from the Volvo. Theo was relatively sure now that a 207A was not a possum with a handgun, but he wasn't sure what it was, so he said, â€Å"Freakin' out a little kid in his own home. Now stop right there or I will blow your fucking brains out.† Theo pointed the radio, antenna first, at the blond guy. And the blond guy stopped, only steps away. Theo could see the deep gouges cut in the man's cheeks from contact with the road. There was no blood. â€Å"You're taller than I am,† said the blond man. Theo guessed the blond man to be about six-two, maybe three. â€Å"Hands on the roof of the car,† he said, training the antenna of the radio between the impossibly blue eyes. â€Å"I don't like that,† said the blond man. Theo crouched quickly, making himself appear shorter than the blond man by a couple of inches. â€Å"Thanks.† â€Å"Hands on the car.† â€Å"Where's the church?† â€Å"I'm not kidding, put your hands on the roof of the car and spread 'em.† Theo's voice broke like he was hitting second puberty. â€Å"No.† The blond man snatched the radio out of Theo's hand and crushed it into shards. â€Å"Where's the church? I need to get to the church.† Theo dove into the car, scooted across the seat, and came out on the other side. When he looked back over the roof of the car the blond man was just standing there, looking at him like a parakeet might look at himself in the mirror. â€Å"What!?† Theo screamed. â€Å"The church?† â€Å"Up the street you'll come to some woods. Go through them about a hundred yards.† â€Å"Thank you,† said the blond man. He walked off. Theo jumped back into the Volvo, threw it into drive. If he had to run over the guy again, so be it. But when he looked up from the dash, no one was there. It suddenly occurred to him that Molly might still be at the old chapel. Her house smelled of eucalyptus and sandalwood and had a woodstove with a glass window that warmed the room with orange light. The bat was locked outside for the night. â€Å"You're a cop?† Lena said, moving away from Tucker Case on the couch. She'd gotten past the bat. He'd explained the bat, sort of. He'd been married to a woman from a Pacific island and had gotten the bat in a custody battle. Things like that happened. She'd gotten the house they were sitting in, in her divorce from Dale, and it still had a black marble Jacuzzi tub with bronze Greek erotic figures inset in a border around the edge. The jetsam of divorce can be embarrassing, so you couldn't fault someone a bathtub or fruit bat rescued out of love's shipwreck, but he might have mentioned he was a cop before he suggested burying her ex and going to dinner. â€Å"No, no, not a real cop. I'm here working for the DEA.† Tuck moved closer to her on the couch. â€Å"So you're a drug cop?† He didn't look like a cop. A golf pro, maybe, that blond hair and the lines around the eyes from too much sun, but not a cop. A TV cop, maybe – the vain, bad cop, who has something going on with the female district attorney. â€Å"No, I'm a pilot. They subcontract independent helicopter pilots to fly agents into pot-growing areas like Big Sur so they can spot patches hidden in the forest with infrared. I'm just working for them here for a couple of months.† â€Å"And after a couple of months?† Lena couldn't believe she was worried about commitment from this guy. â€Å"I'll try to get another job.† â€Å"So you'll go away.† â€Å"Not necessarily. I could stay.† Lena moved back toward him on the couch and examined his face for the hint of a smirk. The problem was, since she'd met him, he'd always worn the hint of a smirk. It was his best feature. â€Å"Why would you stay?† she said. â€Å"You don't even know me.† â€Å"Well, it might not be about you.† He smiled. She smiled back. It was about her. â€Å"It is about me.† â€Å"Yeah.† He was leaning over and there was going to be a kiss and that would be okay, she thought, if the night hadn't been so horrible. It would be okay if they hadn't shared so much history in so short a time. It would be okay if, if†¦ He kissed her. Okay, she was wrong. It was okay. She put her arms around him and kissed him back. Ten minutes later she was down to just her sweater and panties, she had driven Tucker Case deeply enough into the corner of the couch that his ears were baffled with cushions, and he couldn't hear her when she pushed back from him and said, â€Å"This doesn't mean that we're going to bed together.† â€Å"Me, too,† said Tuck, pulling her closer. She pushed back again. â€Å"You can't just assume that this is going to happen.† â€Å"I think I have one in my wallet,† he said, trying to lift her sweater over her head. â€Å"I don't do this sort of thing,† she said, wrestling with his belt buckle. â€Å"I had a test for my pilot physical a month ago,† he said as he liberated her breasts from their combed cotton yoke of oppression. â€Å"Clean as a whistle.† â€Å"You're not listening to me!† â€Å"You look beautiful in this light.† â€Å"Does doing this so soon after, you know – does doing this make me evil?† â€Å"Sure, you can call it a weasel if you want to.† And so, with that tender honesty, that frank connection, the coconspirators chased away each other's loneliness, the smell of grave-digging sweat rising romantic in the room as they fell in love. A little. Despite Theo's concern, Molly wasn't at the old chapel, she was getting a visit from an old friend. Not a friend, exactly, but a voice from the past. â€Å"Well, that was just nuts,† he said. â€Å"You can't feel good about that.† â€Å"Shut up,† said Molly, â€Å"I'm trying to drive.† According to the DSM-IV, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, you had to have at least two of a number of symptoms in order to be considered as having a psychotic episode, or, as Molly liked to think of it, an  «artistic » moment. But there was an exception, a single symptom that could put you in the batshit column, and that was â€Å"a voice or voices commenting on the activities of daily life.† Molly called it â€Å"the Narrator,† and she hadn't heard from him in over five years – not since she'd gone and stayed on her medication as she had promised Theo. That had been the agreement, if she stayed on her meds, Theo would stay off of his – well, more specifically, Theo would not have anything to do with his drug of choice, marijuana. He'd had quite a habit, going back twenty years before they'd met. Molly had stuck to the agreement with Theo; she'd even gotten decertified by the state and gone off financial aid. A resurgence in royalties from her old movies had helped with the expenses, but lately she'd started falling short. â€Å"It's called an enabler,† said the Narrator. â€Å"The Drug Fiend and the Warrior Babe Enabler, that's you two.† â€Å"Shut up, he's not a drug fiend,† she said, â€Å"and I'm not the Warrior Babe.† â€Å"You did him right there in the graveyard,† said the Narrator. â€Å"That is not the behavior of a sane woman, that is the behavior of Kendra, Warrior Babe of the Outland.† Molly cringed at the mention of her signature character. On occasion, the Warrior Babe persona had leaked off the big screen and into her own reality. â€Å"I was trying to keep him from noticing that I might not be a hundred percent.† â€Å"‘Might not be a hundred percent'? You were driving a Christmas tree the size of a Winnebago down the street. You ‘re way off a hundred percent, darlin'. â€Å" â€Å"What do you know? I'm fine.† â€Å"You're talking to me, aren't you?† â€Å"Well†¦Ã¢â‚¬  â€Å"I think I've made my point.† She'd forgotten how smug he could be. Okay, maybe she was having a few more artistic moments than usual, but she hadn't had a break with reality. And it was for a good cause. She'd taken the money she'd saved on her meds to pay for a Christmas present for Theo. It was on layaway down at the glass blower's gallery: a handblown dichromatic glass bong in the Tiffany style. Six hundred bucks, but Theo would so love it. He'd destroyed his collection of bongs and water pipes right after they'd met, a symbol of his break with his pot habit, but she knew he missed it. â€Å"Yeah,† said the Narrator. â€Å"He'll need that bong when he finds out he's coming home to the Warrior Babe.† â€Å"Shut up. Theo and I just had an adventurous romantic moment. I am not having a break.† She pulled into Brine's Bait, Tackle, and Fine Wines to pick up a six-pack of the dark bitter beer Theo liked and some milk for the morning. The little store was a miracle of eclectic supply, one of the few places on the planet where you could buy a fine Sonoma Merlot, a wedge of ripened French Brie, a can of 10W-30, and a carton of night crawlers. Robert and Jenny Masterson had owned the little shop since before Molly had come to town. She could see Robert by himself behind the counter, tall with salt-and-pepper hair, looking a little hangdog as he read a science magazine and sipped a diet Pepsi. Molly liked Robert. He'd always been kind to her, even when she was considered the village's resident crazy lady. â€Å"Hey, Robert,† she said as she came through the door. The place smelled of egg rolls. They sold them out of the back, where they had a pressure fryer. She breezed past the counter toward the beer cooler. â€Å"Hey, Molly.† Robert looked up, a little startled. â€Å"Uh, Molly, you okay?† Crap, she thought. Had she forgotten to brush the pine needles out of her hair? She probably looked a mess. She said, â€Å"Yeah, I'm fine. Theo and I were just putting up the Christmas tree at the Santa Rosa Chapel. You and Jenny are coming to Lonesome Christmas, aren't you?† â€Å"Of course,† Robert said, his voice still a little strained. He seemed to be making an effort not to look at her. â€Å"Uh, Molly, we kind of have a policy here.† He tapped the sign by the counter, NO SHIRT, NO SHOES, NO SERVICE. Molly looked down. â€Å"Oh my gosh, I forgot.† â€Å"It's okay.† â€Å"I left my sneakers in the car. I'll just run out and put them on.† â€Å"That would be great, Molly. Thanks.† â€Å"No problem.† â€Å"I know it's not on the sign, Molly, but while you're out there, you might want to put some pants on, too. It's sort of implied.† â€Å"Sure thing,† she said, breezing by the counter and out the door, feeling now that, yes, it seemed a little cooler out than when she'd left the house. And yes, there were her jeans and panties on the passenger seat next to her sneakers. â€Å"I told you,† said the Narrator.