Quacks of Long Island

As you will know from my previous post, I'm currently enjoying the many delights of New York. Not that a crane falling down and killing four people is in any way delightful, but it does provide a modicum of interesting table-talk when you get bored of politics.
In other news, and sadly enough there really isn't any, everyone I met in 770 on Shabbos is convinced I'm getting engaged. First of all, I'm not. Sorry. Second of all, Yossi Kagan, a former Shliach and current friend of mine, made a good point. Back in the day, no one ever wondered why a Bochur was in Crown Heights for the weekend. It was obvious; he had come to see the Rebbe. And now? Because of our many sins, the situation is reversed, and I'm suddenly a suspicious character. Truth is, I probably didn't help too much by responding to everyone's query's as to the purpose of my visit with a, "I'm not quite sure." While this was certainly an entertaining answer it also left open the possibility that I was in the big apple for ulterior motives. This is certainly not the case. I am as clean as a whistle. Please, you must believe me. No one else will.
I also just finished a speed read of Naomi Ragen's (relatively) new book, "The Saturday Wife." I wouldn't recommend it for anyone with simple faith and a clean mind, but it is extremely funny. It's also extremely anti-something, but I'm not actually sure what that something is. Male dominated Judaism? Yeah. G-d? Possibly. Over-consumption? Capitalism? The world in general?
Perhaps it's simply the hypocrisy that is part of all our lives. No person that I know of has not made compromises in their lifestyle. How else would one manage to live? Some of these compromises are undoubtedly bad ones, but that doesn't mean that the people who make them are necessarily bad. Just normal.