This May Be The Start of Something Big
The best reality show in America is going on right now in Enterprise, Florida, where Cat and Harlan Barnard have, shall we say, had it with the incapacity of their children to accept the most minimal domestic responsibilities. Unfortunately for TV addicts, you have to be in Enterprise, Florida, driving by the Barnard home, to watch. Having tried everything else they could think of, the parents of seventeen year-old Benjamin and twelve year-old Kit have abandoned home temporarily and set up camp in the driveway, where, apparently, they're receiving the warm support of numerous postadolescents.
The Barnards's strike has been going on long enough for local authorities to investigate the scene and to determine that the dear little ones are not in any danger. Already, pages and pages of Google are prepared to list sites that refer to "Harlan Barnard." Who needs TV? (Thanks to ObWi.)
BARNARD UPDATE (Keep reading)
This story is over a week old, and the Barnard parents may have moved back in with their children since journalist Christine Girardin published an update on Saturday; the strike seems to have had a positive effect on daughter Kit, who is doing her own laundry. I've found Web log postings from as far as Denmark and Australia, and they're not shy about taking sides. For a bracing dash of the Old Rancid, for example, you might visit Lord Spatula, a bloody-minded writer who, I read in passing, believes that Secretary Rumsfeld was "set up" at that Q&A in Kuwait. As Jake suggests, putting the kids out in the driveway sounds like the better idea but would undoubtedly have landed the parents in some kind of very hot water. According to Rollo Tomassi of Decadent West though (nice joke, "Rollo"), this is just a White Trash story. For a pro-Benjamin view, consult Conquistador - who is also seventeen. I could go on and on - and probably will.
