Adrian Spratt

Stories, Essays and Commentary.

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“I Think,” Therefore I Listen

December 18, 2022 Tags: empathy, morality and justice, politics, word usage

A book review I just encountered from six decades ago uses the phrase “I think” not once, but twice. Such a concession to subjectivity isn’t only rare today, but even frowned on. It shouldn’t be. “I think” might make the world a kinder, gentler

Two Tribesmen, Three Allegiances

December 14, 2022 Tags: empathy, morality and justice, politics, sport

1 That societies are split by tribalism is a commonplace, but last weekend’s World Cup quarterfinal game between England and France showed tribalism in a special light. Two aspects of that December 10 game may have significance even for those who

What I Learned from a Book Club About My Own Novel

October 24, 2022 Tags: charity, disability, empathy, morality and justice, well-being and medical

When speaking to groups about Caroline, my novel that I promote elsewhere on this website, I acknowledge that once a book is out, it’s no longer the exclusive province of the author. As I found during a recent Zoom meeting with a Florida book club,

MRI

October 5, 2022 Tags: memoir, well-being and medical

Originally posted June 22, 2017. Last week I had an MRI, not my first. Familiarity takes some of the edge off my anxiety about it, but it still runs like a current through the weeks and days. All too soon, I’m in a dressing room at the MRI

What Do You See in a Blue Suit?

October 5, 2022 Tags: disability, morality and justice, politics

1 At a recent roundtable meeting for disability rights leaders, Kamala Harris described herself as follows: “I am Kamala Harris, my pronouns are she and her, I am a woman sitting at the table wearing a blue suit.” Harris was put in a no-win

Testy: A Story

August 9, 2022 Tags: fiction, satire

There I was, the morning after the surgery. “Morning after” seems apt because it was like a hangover, except without the really bad headache. A staff member in civilian clothes came through the door without so much as a knock. “How are we doing,

A Mockingbird’s Song and Abraham’s Silence

July 22, 2022 Tags: morality and justice, nature, religion

Revised August 1, 2022 1 Our first mockingbird in several years arrived this spring. I want to say I missed him, which I did, but of course, the one we now have isn’t the same one from before. Still, like his predecessor, his call is a

Justin, My Own Farewell

July 5, 2022 Tags: empathy, family, in memorium, memoir, well-being and medical

1 When I picked up the ringing phone, I heard a recording of a man howling in agony. How despicable of a robo-caller to disseminate such a heart-rending sound. I hung up. Half an hour later, the phone rang again. It was my brother, crying, but now

Regret

June 27, 2022 Tags: empathy, memoir, morality and justice, well-being and medical, word usage

The subject of regret has been on my mind after a month of disturbed insomniac nights as I began my recovery from a broken femur (thigh bone) and surgery. My focus is now on physical therapy and the slow return to normal. However, those early, rather

Shall I compare thee to a sweltry day? Poem and Commentary

May 24, 2022 Tags: humor, literature, poetry, whimsy

Shall I compare thee to a sweltry day? By Johann Sebastian Shakespeare Shall I compare thee to a sweltry day? Thou art more dismal and less temperate. Long ago flow’red the darling buds of May That now droop and wilt, green fuses past

The Reptile in the Capitol

May 9, 2022 Tags: censorship, politics

A member of my writing group recently sought to defend a character for blaming his bad behavior on a woman character’s provocative clothes: “He’s obviously mad at her for the sequined dress stunt, but shouldn’t he be?” "That doesn't justify rape,"

Libby Speaks 1: “The Homeless Problem” (a story)

April 28, 2022 Tags: fiction, humor, morality and justice, politics, satire

Gavin Kane was a Democratic member of the newly Democratic majority city council. His colleagues warned him against inflammatory tweets. “We’re in charge now,” they said. “It was one thing to throw T-bombs when we were in the minority and couldn’t

Libby Speaks 2: Sex Matters (a story)

April 28, 2022 Tags: fiction, humor, morality and justice, politics, satire

Council Member Gavin Kane, Democrat, was incensed. Max Morano and his fellow Republicans had vowed to fight a proposed law to make sexual harassment a firing offense. Gavin signed into his Twitter account. “Once again, Max Morano stands in the way

Libby Speaks 3: Squeaky Shoes (a story)

April 28, 2022 Tags: fiction, humor, morality and justice, politics, satire

Tina Millette told her boss, Council Member Gavin Kane, that a constituent was making life difficult in the public area of their district office. “I can hear the shouting in here with the door closed,” Gavin said. “What does he think this is?

Libby Speaks 4: Plastic Bags (a story)

April 28, 2022 Tags: fiction, humor, morality and justice, politics, satire

Republican City Council Member Max Morano was taking a Diet Coke break with Irma Jansen, his chief of staff. “I can’t believe the city’s Democrats passed the plastic bag ban. Totally counterproductive. The plastic bags I take home with me from the

Libby Speaks 5: Healthcare (a story)

April 28, 2022 Tags: fiction, humor, morality and justice, politics, satire, well-being and medical

Tina Millette waltzed into Democratic Council Member Gavin Kane’s office, as usual, without knocking. “There’s an item in the Gazette about Max Morano’s mother having gone through a successful course of treatment for colon cancer at the Baltic Creek

Disability Appropriation

March 14, 2022 Tags: disability, politics

To accuse a work or its author of cultural appropriation can be to censor a possibly sincere attempt to celebrate fellow human beings. The same can apply to claims of disability appropriation. In my view, the focus should be on countering it, not

Vladimir Putin and Self-Hatred

March 14, 2022 Tags: history, literature, other places, politics

So many human qualities can be inversions of what they seem. Hatred of someone else can be hatred of oneself. To punish another can be to engage in self-punishment. The subject of inversion came up the other evening during the rebroadcast of Dick

Me Me Me

January 19, 2022 Tags: empathy, politics

In my posts to this website, as well as in my fiction, I’m conscious of writing from the point of view of an individual. The argument goes that when we depict personal experience, we speak for many others, even the whole of human experience. But do

Looking Back on a Mediation Program from the COVID Era

January 13, 2022 Tags: Life in the COVID era, memoir

For the past twenty-two months, my old office, the New York State Attorney General’s complaint mediation program, has been empty but for two people: a file clerk and a staff member who processes the day’s mail. COVID-19 is the explanation, of course.

The English Garden Rose

January 6, 2022 Tags: history, morality and justice, nature, politics

The many-petaled spiral of the English garden rose against the green of a mown lawn and the blue of a nearly cloudless sky brings feelings of wellbeing to our hearts and minds. It sparks a spring day with red, yellow or orange. It is lovely and

Disability and Censorship

December 20, 2021 Tags: censorship, disability, word usage

“Ableism” has been defined as “discrimination in favor of able-bodied people.” Advocates for people with disabilities believe that central to the fight to end ableism is the censorship of words that could cause offense and perpetuate harmful

Courage Cells: A Story

November 30, 2021 Tags: aging, disability, empathy, fiction, memory

Who would I be if I forgot the teacher who coaxed me past my math phobia, or the time my boss bailed me out and then reamed me out after I got a client into a disastrous investment, or the glowing loveliness of my wife Jane on our wedding day? Memory

Gonna Go to Texas

November 30, 2021 Tags: humor, politics, satire

Hey y’all, We’re heading to Texas, and I’m getting into that Texas spirit!! Just itching to climb into these cowboy boots and hitch up these Texas-size britches for a spell. I’ve put in an order at the airport’s rent-a-gun store for a Glock and

The Garage Door: A Story

November 23, 2021 Tags: fiction, Life in the COVID era

That afternoon, we had our cab driver let us out at the driveway to our apartment building’s underground garage. “Why is the garage door opening?” Alison said, as she got out. Her voice was muffled by her mask, a murkiness I’d never grown used to

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Disclaimer

A lawyer can hardly resist an opportunity for a disclaimer or two. No statement on this website constitutes or is intended as legal advice. Also, resemblance of any person, living or otherwise, to any of my fictional characters is strictly coincidental. Even in my nonfiction, names have been changed and biographical details altered, and often traits of several people are combined into a single character. The exceptions, apart from myself, are inescapably my parents and brother, and I can only hope I’ve done them justice. Any other exceptions are noted.
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