Peter Scotchmer writes a short story on how love sees truth even when the eyes refuse to. Near the beginning of the semester, Rebecca Cooper, slim, blonde and beautiful, stood somewhat shamefacedly before her teacher’s desk after class, self-consciously twisting an...

In this quietly funny and poignant short story by Peter Scotchmer, a fledgling teacher learns that the classroom isn’t just a place of learning but a spotlight, a stage, and sometimes, a fishbowl.   The bell rang, and the class quickly settled. The teacher...

So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past. --F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby I have often wondered why it is that some slight and unremarkable memories remain strongly embedded in our waking consciousness while others...

  Finding Her Voice   Lou-Ellen Lewis was a quiet girl given to reading. She was not shy, but her reflective disposition discouraged her from revealing her inmost thoughts openly in class. Unlike so many of the other girls, enthusiastic and vital as they tended...

Yes, I do like to vomit upon the carpet under the piano.  Of course it is much harder to clean there than it is to clean vomit off the linoleum in the kitchen.  Why else would I do there – if not to make them get on their hands and knees?  It is obvious that the...

{In keeping with our tradition of welcoming a variety of perspectives on everyday life, we at The Ironist are open to submissions of matters relating to public interest raised by aggrieved contrarians. We recently received the following from an anonymous contributor....

(A Children’s Story for Grown-Ups) Editor’s note:  The Pendulum has already swung back to defend Enid Blyton's Noddy books from charges of racism and of excessive insensitivity to such human afflictions as having large ears.  See the Independent...