Over my Impromptus today is a big pig — a picture of an enormous pig, meant to suggest Animal Farm. I lead my column with that timeless parable. I also touch on the American propensity to snowflakery; Ron DeSantis and Elon Musk; a hot new pet (desert tortoise, anyone?); and plenty more. To give it a whirl, go here.
Let’s have some mail. In a column earlier this week, I remarked on McDonald’s. They have a new slogan: “Where you start stays with you.” Everyone needs a foothold on the job ladder — a first-rung job. McDonald’s has provided that for a great many.
A reader writes,
My first job at 16 was at the McDonald’s in Oregon, Ohio (Toledo suburb). I learned that behind those Golden Arches was a rigorous accounting system that tracked every aspect of the restaurant.
The importance of numbers and keeping track was fascinating. It ultimately led me to major in business in college and a 40-year career in finance.
Marvelous.
A reader responds to a piece I wrote about homelessness in San Diego — and those who are combatting it:
I live in Little Italy, where you tried to buy a homeless man some pizza. I have offered that same man money and food, with the same result. I have seen his clothes deteriorate over time. I think I will go to an Army-Navy supply store, or maybe Carhartt’s, and get him some durable pants. I hope he takes them, and if he refuses, I’ll just leave them where he knows they are and pray he comes back when no one is looking.
The Metropolitan Opera staged a new production of The Magic Flute, the Mozart work. I concluded my review as follows:
Years ago, I had the privilege of sitting at lunch with Andrew Porter, the venerable musicologist and critic. I said, sheepishly, “I know this is a dumb question, but do you have a favorite opera?” Almost before I could get the words out of my mouth, he said, “The Magic Flute.”
A reader writes, “Allow me to quote the obituary for my father.” That obit says,
He was an avid reader, sports fan and traveler. His passion for opera was legendary, and he would travel regularly to hear it, sometimes attending two performances in a day. He often emphatically declared that Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” “is the single greatest work of art in any medium ever.”
Our reader adds, “My father had seen a lot of opera over the years — and a fair amount of art.” So “this was not an unconsidered or ill-informed opinion.”
In a Corner post, I published a reader’s picture of a Cooper’s hawk. Another reader says,
Jay,
My daughter took this photo thru her picture window last week — about ten feet separating the hawk and the window. She lives in Henrico County, Virginia, just west of Richmond. I thought I would pass it along after seeing the Cooper’s hawk.
Behold:
Thank you so much, everybody.