o one more thing

i did have a chance at last to speak to a representative of this Major Textbook Company ... had a little bone to pick ... have had it for quite a few years ...

you see there's this scrap of a passage from Ben Franklin's autobiography ... the part where he tries to make himself morally perfect ... he lists twelve desirable virtues and briefly describes each ... but when we get to CHASTITY there's no description ... just a big white blank space ...

when i asked my class this year why there was nothing printed there, they said something like, "Well, Franklin knew that everybody knows what chastity is, so there was no need," they said "Well, maybe he was kind of shy about that."

i, of course, had to tell them that Franklin had written something but that someone had taken it out ... of course, i read to them what had been left out:

Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another's peace or reputation.

and we had that conversation ... the conversation that someone somewhere doesn't think students should have in english class ...

ok ... so i pointed all of this out to the representative of this Major Textbook Company ... he gave me his card, said he'll look into it, said i should email him in a few days (& i will) (because i've been really curious and cynical about this for years & to finally approach an answer .. corporate though it may be ...is about all that i can bear) ... i'll let you know how it turns out