Dear Blake,
I am a monk at a monastery. I was born and raised in the United States, but I left the country in 1974 when I was 18 and never came back. I’m an only child, and because both of my parents died a long time ago, I have not been outside the walls of this monastery for 40 years. I wrote this letter by hand, but I was told by someone that there is something called “email” I could have used, but I’m exactly sure what that is. My question is, what is life like in the United States today?
Signed, Charles
From Batalha, Portugal
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Dear Charles,
I don’t know where to start, so here’s a few. We now have something called “cell phones”. Most people use them to write messages and send them, rather than hearing someone’s voice that they can’t stand. A lot of high school and grammar school female teachers use them to send explicit images of themselves to some of their students that they regularly have inappropriate relationships with, which are usually made public during their trials. We also have something called “rap music”. This is a genre for people that can’t sing, but have the desire to get out a vulgar, tasteless message, often with a catchy beat. Things have changed dramatically since 1973 when President Richard Nixon stated “I am not a crook”. Today nearly every elected official in Washington D.C. is a crook. Today, we will not vote for anyone who is not sensitive enough to lie to our faces, and tell us anything we want to hear, while assassinating the character of the opposing party. And finally, we are way past people raising an eyebrow when they see an interracial marriage. I would tell what the new standards of matrimony are in this country, but if I did, you’d swear this entire letter was a prank. I hope this helps.
Blake