Town Talk Triple Play

You never know what to expect when you read the Journal's Town Talk feature, and this week's selections certainly do not disappoint.

St. Louis is known as the "Neighborhood City", and our first selection provides insight into the strong sense of community and neighborhood pride exhibited by so many St. Louis area residents:

"Ready the boiling oil"

I'M CALLING CONCERNING all the crime in the City of St. Louis. Is there any way to keep all those horrible, sick people out of South County? I know years ago they built that River Des Peres moat to keep all the bad city people out of South County, but the city people built bridges and they are able to get in the County. Is there any way that we can call President Bush and have him build a fence like they are doing in Mexico? We keep them out using the moat and then we've got the river on the eastern side that keeps the Illinois people out. There's got to be some we way can protect South County.

One of the more entertaining aspects of Town Talk is the way the themes of some calls carry over from week to week, giving voice to a form of community dialogue. Our next selection is in response to our inaugural Town Talk of the Week, "Senior Glut"

"Respect your elders, or else"

I'M CALLING ABOUT the guy that disagrees with the senior citizens voting and holding up the line shopping. I'll tell that punk one thing. I'm 79 years old. I drive a Corvette. I'm dating younger women. In fact, I might even be dating his wife and I take Viagra four times a week and nobody gives me any crap. If I ever see him out in public, I'm going to punch him right in the head.

St. Louis is known as a spiritual, town, steeped in religious traditions. St. Louis also has a significant elderly population. The caller for our third selection does a nice job combining current events, a belief in a higher power, and the concerns of senior citizens.

"End of days?"

DID WE ALWAYS have this many power outages, or is the day of our lord approaching? I am 94 years old and don't remember all these electrical problems. Come quickly, Lord Jesus, I am very selfish; I want to see again. My pastor says I will when I get to heaven.

There was a time when I wondered about the usefulness of the Journal's Town Talk service. Now I think I am starting to understand its true value. To help deal with the pressures of every day life, some people just need an outlet to get things off their chests, and the Journal provides it with Town Talk!