My social worker Donna is quite a remarkable person. She's become a true friend though for all I know it may just be part of the job. She's of mixed African-American and Native-American ancestry and is of a jolly and affectionate demeanor; loud yet easygoing. She's obviously intelligent and knowledgeable about the sort of subjects I like discussing. All in all it makes for refreshing conversation.

She likes taking me on outings into the larger community and yesterday she took me to a coffee house meeting. That's what it was advertised as anyway. I had expected it to be some beatnik enclave with poetry recitals and folk music. Instead it turned out to be located in a Christian church. It was quite unnerving. The people were like creepy abstractions from an Albert Camus novel. Either they had Down Syndrome or they were ultra-goody goody; worse than the Mormons I've met in Utah. Religion had explained the world to them in soothing terms and there was no need for them to know or experience anything else.

I've never been religious. My parents have been totally uninterested in it for as long as I can remember and I followed suit. Christianity, with its love-your-neighbor/everybody's equal message, has certainly contributed to the stupefying liberal environment the West now finds itself in.

We left the Christian coffee house quickly and Donna took me out to Mimi's for us to eat and chat. Now that was an outing.