Seeing the World Through Odessa's Eyes

One of my guests today arrived earlier from the old west. Odessa Clay is my heroine in my latest work in progress and western historical, and I've invited her here to visit with my modern-day heroine, Cassie Fremont to get a glimpse of the future. Odessa has already been watching some television, so I can't wait to see what questions she has. I'm going to sit on the sidelines while she and Cassie chat.

Cassie - "So Odessa. What do you think so far?"

Odessa - *Gazing around the room*. "This is very nice. Furnishings have certainly come a long way, haven't they."

Cassie - "I suppose they have, but I'm anxious to see what you thought of the news you watched on Fox TV."

Odessa - *scratches her head* "That TV is an amazing contraption, and I have to admit what I watched was all very confusing. Money wasn't plentiful in my day, but it looks as if your generation is in real trouble. But I really don't understand some of words I heard."

Cassie - "Like what?"

Odessa - "What's a stimulus package."

Cassie - "That's something the government thinks is going to keep us out of a depression despite the lack of oversight on their spending and the money they've lent to others. You see...a bunch of people who are totally clueless about how middle class America lives, get together and decide what things we should worry about. They plan to give us a little of our tax money back, but they want to dictate how we spend it. I'm not very literate when it comes to politics, so I'm probably not the best person to explain it."

Odessa - "I'm still confused."

Cassie - "Don't feel alone. I don't understand their thinking either. "For instance, they want to provide contraceptives to low-income families and put energy-efficient cars on the roads as part of their proposed 'package.' I'm not sure how that stimulates the economy."

Odessa - *brows knitted in confusion*. "What's a contraceptive? And an energy-efficient car?"

Cassie - "Oh, that's right, I forgot you don't know about such things. Contraceptives prevent a woman from having children she doesn't want. And cars...well, they're like the stage coach your arrived on, but without the horses. They operate on something called gasoline, and the government wants to build ones that use less of it."

Odessa - "mouth agape* - "How does giving women these contra...things help with money problems? And if you people are out of work, who'll buy these new, improved cars?"

Cassie - "Good question. As far a birth-control, I can't see how that's going to help unless women voluntarily participate. Children are what keep women on the welfare roles, so it's pretty doubtful they're going to...how would you say it... cut off their nose to spite their face? By the way, welfare is money made available to those the government deems needy. And I agree...I could barely afford to buy gasoline a few months back, so I wonder how congress thinks most Americans can afford a new car.I pretty much think their first and only priority right now is how to save the remaining businesses and re-establish the ones we've lost. We have to get people back to work. Just yesterday, 72,000 American's lost their jobs, and rather than address his own people and offer assurances, our new president decided it was much more important to appear on TV and assure the Muslim nation we are really concerned with what they think about us. Personally, I was appalled at his timing."

Odessa - "What's a Muslim?"

Cassie - "Oh, let's not even go there. It would take me hours to explain religious differences, and I'm about as proficient in knowledge there as I am in politics.

Odessa - "Is there anything positive happening in the world right now?"

Cassie - "Let's just put you back in your stage coach and send you back to 1883. Trust me. I'm sure Ginger can whip up something much more desirable than the state of affairs here. And let's not mention we talked about politics. She promised to stay away from that topic during Bring a Character To Blog week."