What part of the world is your brother in, VW?

He's in Kansas.

ETA: His call center is in KC.

I'm sorry to hear that, vw. I hope all the money hasn't gone to bonuses and that there is some left over for severance.

VW, I'm so sorry--that really sucks! I hope he gets another job soon.

I ran into a neighbor while leaving for work this morning who told me that she was laid off from Borders recently. I don't know if it was a company-wide policy or just their store, but all of the part-timers were let go at the same time. She said the store is practically a ghost town, there are so few customers.

My B&N is doing better than that, but we've already cut back store hours on the weekend and all of the part-timers have had their hours shaved back to minimal levels (I've been getting just four hours a week). Who knows how long that will last?

I hope all the money hasn't gone to bonuses and that there is some left over for severance.

Yeah, me too. Though it looks like the purchasing bank has taken a HUGE loss, so I'm gonna be surprised...

but what's the objection to theatre?

A friend of mine is Pentecostal - her church forbade her from going to movies. (This was her pastor's rule - other churches didn't have that rule.)

He said that while some movies are in fact OK for Christians, someone might see you walking out of a movie and assume that you'd been to a bad movie. So to avoid even the appearance of going to a bad movie, you weren't allowed to see movies at all.

Also prohibited - alcohol, dancing and pants (for women). If you were a woman you had to wear your hair long and unstyled.

Damn. Our primary one is in Pittsburgh.

He said that while some movies are in fact OK for Christians, someone might see you walking out of a movie and assume that you'd been to a bad movie. So to avoid even the appearance of going to a bad movie, you weren't allowed to see movies at all.

Also prohibited - alcohol, dancing and pants (for women). If you were a woman you had to wear your hair long and unstyled.

This is essentially how life was for me until I was 18.

And I'm going to take this moment to say that I find this continued discussion of this book disturbing and troubling. If I thought that people were honestly trying to understand this sect of Christianity, that would be one thing. But it seems to be under a microscope to discuss how crazy these people are. Quite frankly, if we were doing this to a book on a Jewish girl's life in the 1800's, it would be considered offensive.

Damn. Our primary one is in Pittsburgh.

Oh, bummer. But thank you! I'm hoping it just means he goes back to school sooner, and it's not a traumatic thing. It's still scary, though.

But it seems to be under a microscope to discuss how crazy these people are.

I think it's understood that the craziness is entirely the author's.

Sorry, vw. The only person that I was trying to mock was the author.