corner of my eye and above the fold

As I stepped out of my apartment building on my way to work this morning, I noticed two or three local tabloids resting in the corner of the stoop. SF has many free papers and I didn't note which one it was. I didn't stop to read it or anything, I just registered the headline below the fold as I stepped down the stairs.

The headline read, in large print, "drugs and nudity," and below in smaller type: "'No-brainer guidelines to be voted on today."

I walk to work, and spent the next hundred yards or so thinking about conservatism for the sake of conservatism and what's so wrong with a little spontaneous nudity in clubs now and then and which busybodies got who in trouble this time and where are they banning nudity now...

I then moved onto other things in my head.

I passed another paper with a partially legible headline "Beyond 'Shhhh': Libraries..." And I got annoyed at yet another puff piece on how libraries aren't what people expect aren't exactly like a government-sponsored educational film from 1954. Why is this continuing to be a surprise to so many writers? Library patrons and communities know how lively the library is. The SF Chronicle did a big Sunday piece on the popularity of San Francisco libraries (there are waiting lines before opening) and how they are extremely active centers for the community.

(see San Francisco libraries have become neighborhood best-sellers at the SFGate.com)

As I approached the parking garage of my workplace (and busy muni stop), there were bits of free papers strewn about the sidewalk. I passed another paper (honestly, my neighborhood is not as full of litter as this sounds), but this time the paper was unfolded, and I could see that I had glimpsed the same paper from different angles.

This time I could read the entire headline above and below the fold: "Beyond 'Shhhhh': Library targets drugs and nudity."

"Well, okay." I thought, "That's different."

It seems my stream of consciousness tends to jump to conclusions when it has just rolled out of bed and hasn't had its coffee.