I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK:

[READ: December 16, 2024] “Conversation Over the Holidays”

This year my wife ordered me The Short Story Advent Calendar.  This is my seventh time reading the Calendar–it’s a holiday tradition!  Here’s what H&O says about the calendar this year.

Ten years of stories! Yikes, where does the time go?
When the first Short Story Advent Calendar launched, in 2015, we frankly had no clue we’d still be sitting here today, continuing to offer up batches of tasty stories fresh from the oven. To celebrate this milestone, we’ve packed the 10th SSAC with a mix of new and familiar names—ideal company for those chilly winter nights ahead.

The author of this story was Jessica Westhead.  Each day has an online component with the author with a brief interview.   Here’s today’s

It’s December 16. Jessica Westhead, author of Avalanche, knows a good crab dip when she sees it.

I usually enjoy stories like this.  It is told in a strange style:

At a certain point the joke was told and they all laughed.  Then they all stopped.  There was a pause.  They sipped their drinks quietly.

So the story is, indeed about the kinds of conversation had a holiday parties among friends.  The whole story is told in this detached third person way.

We see the room and that the kids are all upstairs (they didn’t like  the weird food and later snuck down for packaged treats in the kitchen).

The quote above is how the story opens.  And I appreciate how the joke itself resurfaces four pages later (out of 9 pages total).   We aren’t told the joke, but we are given that it is about an Uber driver.

The story continues after the joke–life goes on, but no one forgets the joke.

I enjoyed the way this story pokes a whole at white privilege without being overt about it.