Sweety Nod

"Hey Barb! Are these seats taken?"

"Hey! How are you guys?" Barb nodded at the seats. "They're open. I heard Eliza got Mrs. Lovett. Nice!"

"It is nice. She's tried so hard for something besides ensemble. It's a big jump for her."

"What's Garret have? I'm sure Eliza mentioned it, but I can't remember."

"Adolfo Pirelli. One of the victims."

"Great! I love this show."

"Me too. And the Spring play is Macbeth! So excited... Did you hear about the shooting?"

"In Tennessee?"

"Yeah."

"It's just ugly. Did you read about his motive? His posts on Instagram? How can people get so caught up in revenge? It's like they glorify revenge. It seems our whole society is caught up in vengeance."

"I know. And he was so young. How could he already be that angry in high school? It makes me wonder what his parents let him watch. Kids see so much violence these days. Violence with no morals whatsoever. Just anger."

"Yeah. We watched this movie the other night at the theater and everyone was blowing each other away and the audience just laughed at it. Doesn't anyone even notice violence any more?"

"I'm with you. It's a crazy world."

She turned to her daughter. "Lilly, put that tablet down. You are not reading while the performance is happening."

"Mom! I don't like this show."

"You don't like it because you aren't watching. Put the tablet down and observe. Maybe you'll learn something."

She turned back to Barb. "These kids. They never want to absorb anything good."

"You're preaching to the choir. It's so hard for me to get them to do anything that has culture. Maybe, somehow, shows like this will rub off on them."

The lights dimmed.

She whispered. "We can only hope. Here we go!"