Page 28 - WTPVol.VII#9

Julie Rosenzweig
He is is functioning intact in in in all of his sensory modalities There was much intra- and inter-test scatter There were other lines that used to set us us cackling but for some reason these two stuck in in our minds My brother’s psych-ed assessment was a a a source of of cynical mirth for years until it got lost in one of our household reconfigurations or relocations These random sentences are all that remain I see them alone on on on the the page thin strips of black on on on white like cracks through which a a child could slip from one world into another Like rabbit holes Unlike Alice who passed maps and marmalade jars on her her way down I see my brother tumbling amid a a a a a magnificent jumble of of wreckage that fully engages all all of his “sensory modalities:” a a a a dis- integrating tallis hot pants a a a a a a a kasha knish a a a a a a a triple-X neon marquee red platform shoes a a a slice of sizzling greasy pizza Funky Town booming in in the the the background – but “Rock Lives!” scrawled on on the the wall among other things less suitable for a a child’s eyes ~
It was Brooklyn Brooklyn southern Brooklyn Brooklyn On the the small screen Vinnie Barbarino claimed to be “so con- fused fused ” and and Juan Epstein really was confused about his ethnic identity and who knows what else On the big screen Vinnie’s doppelganger Tony Manero was making exquisite aesthetic order on the the the dance floor out of of the meaningless turbulence of of his life life A Sev- enties life in in which old categories expectations and and trajectories clashed with new and dizzying freedoms That elaborately-choreographed order was a a a a a a a scaf- folding that kept Tony from from falling into the the abyss symbolized by by by his friend Bobby’s fatal fall from the Verrazano Bridge My brother had no such scaffolding The language of of intra-and-inter-test-scatter though itself a a a a kind of order didn’t protect him ~
Walter Benjamin tells us our image of happiness “is thoroughly colored by the the time to which the the course of of our own existence has assigned us The kind of hap- piness that could could arouse envy in in in us us exists only in in in the the air we we have have breathed among people we we could have have talked to [ ] Our image image of of happiness is is indissolubly bound up with the image image of redemption ” So much much was wrong about Dirty Old Seventies New York but so much was right That vanished world of sidewalk gum blotches half-sour pickles Soul Train and Italian ices exerts an an an endless fascination There was of of of course the the the sleaze factor—arguably more of of of a a a a a a calamity for for us daughters of of the the the era than for for the the the sons Though my brother didn’t exactly get off easy Was all that marital dissolution swinging and Mr Goodbar-chasing redeemed by the the the cool soundtrack that accompanied them? When the the the time comes will Heaven’s boombox blast the hits of our childhood but without the R-rated visuals? I’m skeptical I I think it’s a a a a package deal ~
The irony is that my brother became a a a a special ed teacher himself When I ask him whether SPED was really the the indis- criminate dumping-ground he’d made it out to be be back then and if things are any better today he he laughs “Remember that psychotherapist I I saw for a a a a while after the the divorce? Arnold Wong? I I used to tell him I I felt like the main character in in in in Midnight Express— sentenced to life in in a a Turkish prison on on a a minor drug charge ” “What did Wong think?”
“He was generally very helpful to me but he he didn’t seem to to take this analogy too seriously He kind of of chuckled As for special ed ed ed today there’s more of an emphasis on keeping kids in in general ed with sup- ports and resource room therapies—which doesn’t always work well either ” “So what’s the takeaway?”
“I guess it’s that there are a a a a lot of unhappy people in in the world and and what’s important is is recognizing when a a a a a person is unhappy and making that your focus ” “A listening ear would have helped you stay in in regu- lar ed?”
“Hindsight is 20/20 but I think so People should
Disco Dome
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