Letter from Lang Keith

‘Nirvana’ Use Should Not Be an Issue

When I saw the front page of this week’s Freeman’s Journal I immediately checked my calendar, thinking I had somehow missed a couple of months and this was the April Fool’s issue. But no, it’s the January 26th issue, and the article about Ommegang was not a spoof of the omnipresent swath of American citizens who seem to spend their days seeking new ways to be offended.

Thank goodness for my neighbor, Peter Woods, at the Buddhist Retreat Center. He put this silly brouhaha in exactly the right context.

As for Messrs. Fisher and Zed, if they intend to nurture their outrage, they are going to be very busy boys. A look on the Internet reveals that almost every state has a Nirvana restaurant. Lots of opportunity for hurt feelings there. And do they know about the late Kurt Cobain’s band?

Me? I’m going to have a Heavenly Ham sandwich washed down with, dare I say it? An Ommegang IPA.

Lang Keith
Cooperstown