perfidy

I began my daily dumbing-down by perusing the news in the morning's Houston Chronicle. Among items the editors deemed crucial for my continued functioning as a citizen, I found the following:

Pasadena is a suburb way down on the east side of Houston which is home to many of the oil refineries in the area, and not coincidentally stinks to high-heaven. I was only vaguely aware that it was populated by rejected extras from Deliverance, those with low tolerance for chemical fumes, or both.

The parents of four Pasadena children left at home alone have been arrested and charged with child endangerment and possession of marijuana.

Billy Bob Pettey, 31, and his wife, Crystal Pettey, 22, were arrested after Pasadena police officers responded to a disturbance call shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday from a neighbor at their apartment complex in the 4300 block of Shaver.

After reading the beginning of the story, completely aside from the male protagonist's name (which, well, come on - do you actually know anyone named Billy Bob?), it occurred to me that I've never known a girl named Crystal that wasn't either a stripper or should have considered stripping as a career advancement maneuver.

So I read on. And if you've got 30 seconds of your life for which you don't have a better use, feel free to do the same.

If I were a more caring individual, I'd shed a tear for the future of Houston's east side, because I don't think Billy Bob and Crystal are horribly unique among their neighbors. And no, none of the good strip clubs in Houston, of which I hear there are many, happen to be anywhere near Pasadena.