Like any other story, excellent narration John. But I have a few comments to make on this one. I am not sure of your motive in writing this one. So I shall make 2 simple assumptions: 1. You wrote it to show "how americans learn" (which by the way makes me proud I'm Nepalese/ Canadian...hehe) 2. (the more probable one): You showed how hypocritical and carelsss the western society has become. Mother thinks it's ok her daughter smokes pot and then had an accident and then learns the lesson the hard way....because..well.....she was a pothead herself???? Letting kids go because you made a similar mistake yourself during your times isnt good parenting! Of course the situation can be extrapolated into many aspects of education and the learning path in the american society. Olney represents the American mind,still barren and confused about immigrants and threatened by them in some ways, the nurse represents the older americans who make up their own philosophies about how society should be, tara represents an innocent girl- stuck between these confused .....potheads.....o and pot? i think pot represents mcdonalds, the sire of american consumerism and materialism! EXCELLENT STORY. still cant beat your previous one though, ima bit of a romantic.