Category Archives: Culture

Darning my Booties

Posted on January 19, 2024 by Barry Pomeroy

Today I posted a picture on Instagram showing off my poorly realized darning work. I was repairing a pair of knitted booties which I use as slippers. One of my former students asked me why I didn’t buy a new … Continue reading →

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Judge Not or Ye Shall Be Judged

Posted on December 3, 2023 by Barry Pomeroy

I rather thoughtlessly quoted the bible when I was talking to my friend about being gay. She has partially emerged from her closet—which is a fraught enterprise for her because of her religious background—and we were discussing the tendency of … Continue reading →

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The Man Who Broke into Prison

Posted on October 21, 2023 by Barry Pomeroy

Harrol was a city guy. He’d gone to university and played his part in the corporate drama. He had a house and a bland family, and his mother who’d come to stay with him. According to her, he did nothing … Continue reading →

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Haters Gonna Hate

Posted on September 22, 2023 by Barry Pomeroy

Comments about haters, or people who have no contributions other than to heap ridicule onto another’s accomplishments, are common now, but the phenomenon is not new. I would venture a guess that even when the first stone tool was smashed … Continue reading →

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An Island Overrun with Prisoners and Soldiers

Posted on January 28, 2023 by Barry Pomeroy

When William Golding imagines his feral schoolboys in Lord of the Flies, he thinks that they will inevitably shed the shallow indoctrination of the arbitrary and recently acquired rules of polite society and fall back upon their baser instincts which … Continue reading →

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Bugs on the Bus

Posted on November 23, 2022 by Barry Pomeroy

I was on the bus one time when a bunch of teenagers got on and, because of crowding, they had to stand in the aisle. As soon as seats came open, they claimed them, and then called to their friend … Continue reading →

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You Know the Rules

Posted on November 6, 2022 by Barry Pomeroy

Years ago my sister had both a cat and a dog. Although she was always kind with the animals, when the dog farted she would put the cat outside as well. As she did, she would say, “You know the … Continue reading →

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Canada’s Difficulty with Reconciliation

Posted on October 4, 2022 by Barry Pomeroy

The rediscovery of unmarked gravesites at the Kamloops residential school in the summer of 2021 brought a grisly history into the public eye. Although people had found bones on the site before, the use of ground penetrating radar went a … Continue reading →

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Cascino Family Christmas

Posted on March 24, 2022 by Barry Pomeroy

I’d been visiting Silvio’s family in Argentina for a month by the time we drove to the mountains to visit his cousin. His cousin was renowned for her avarice and unmannered lack of civility, and so when Christmas Eve approached, … Continue reading →

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Talking at Angles

Posted on March 4, 2022 by Barry Pomeroy

Many television shows were renowned for their dialogue, and in that way Barney Miller is no different. The show’s portrayal of New York policing, with its kinder and gentler approach to dealing with perpetrators and victims, as well as its … Continue reading →

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