What’s the Matter with Kansas?
No, I’m not referring to the book by Thomas Frank but rather to this disturbing little story out of Tonganoxie:
On a recent Monday, the scene in the lobby of the Tonganoxie Public Library was pretty much what a visitor would expect: A middle-aged man reading a magazine, a woman quietly walking along book shelves looking for a good read and two teen-age girls sharing a hushed conversation at a computer.
Meanwhile, the action in the Community Room of the library was a bit more raucous.
“Where are all these Nazi zombies coming from?” Josh Strutton asked, as he blasted away at a video computer game projected on the wall. “These zombies are coming from everywhere.”
…
Although it wasn’t a scene one might expect to see in the library, it was one played out from 3 to 5 p.m. each weekday in the Community Room. Royce Kitts, Tonganoxie Public Library director, said video gaming was a popular attraction at the library.
Let me get this straight: the public library in this Kansas town is not just allowing, but actively encouraging the violent communal slaughter of the Differently Animated in videogame form? Amongst its children?
Are these the ‘heartland’ values we hear so much about? “Hey kids, come on in, no need to read about or even vaguely tolerate those different from yourselves, here’s a controller, shoot some Undead people in the face?”
And Nazi Zombies? Come on. As if the Nazis were, or are now, made up principally of the Undead. I wonder what other historical atrocities we can pin on the Zombie community? Maybe the Mongols were actually Undead and invaded China to get brains to eat?
(Note: this is NOT an invitation to write historical fiction along these lines, people)
Oh well, lesson learned. I guess if you’re Differently Animated, you’re not welcome in small town Kansas, and certainly shouldn’t try to check out a book, lest the Lord of the Flies experiment going on in the Community Room spill over into the Fiction section.
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