The Opening Sentence

Two days after the election. The topic was crowd control.

- Have you heard of Bulwer-Lytton, he asked?

- Yes, I replied, fiction writer, he's the one who wrote Snoopy's famous opening line "It was a dark and stormy night"!

- Well, he wrote a book titled "Public Opinion", about manipulating popular opinions in a democracy.

-  From a 19th century point of view, I asked?

- No, it was written sometime in the 1920s!

- Oh?!

He typed a name into a Google box as I watched him: 'Walter Lippmann'.

Two days earlier, on the election day morning, I attended a sales presentation (called 'a seminar') followed by a complimentary lunch at a local chain Italian restaurant.   The presenter was a small business owner whose last name was Free (!)  These are regular affairs, invitations arrive in the mail every six months, it was the  third time I attended in as many years, I have yet to buy something, and this time I was recognized by one of Mr Free's employees, so I'm burned there now.  Free no more!

During the 90 minute presentation, I learned not only the price ranges of the devices sold by Mr Free's outfit - from $1,000  to as much as $8,000 a pair  (although in many cases only a single one may be required), but also to my surprise that only about 30% of adults 65 years old suffer from hearing loss.

"It was a dark and stormy night" is the opening sentence of Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel 'Paul Clifford'.