Section

Society

7 dispatches

Society

Local Dad’s “Quick Trip to Hardware Store” Enters Third Hour, Family Fears Worst

LANCASTER, PA

Backyard wedding lawn with white chairs and flower-lined aisle leading to an unassembled wooden arch lying in pieces on the grass.

The florist is here, the photographer is here, and the arch is still in pieces on the lawn.

Society

Study Finds 90% Of Group Texts Are Just One Person Narrating Their Errands

BOSTON

Phone in a car cupholder full of message bubbles, crumpled receipt on the seat, store parking lot outside.

A peer-reviewed study released Monday concluded that roughly 90% of group text message volume consists of a single participant live-blogging trips to Target, the post…

Society

Progressive Mother Devastated After Son Comes Out As Straight

EVANSTON, IL

Untouched celebration cake on a kitchen table with a sports jersey folded on a chair.

Local mother Meredith Albright-Cole, 44, was reportedly inconsolable Thursday after her 17-year-old son sat the family down and came out as straight.

Society

Local Podcast Spends Nearly An Hour On Soup, Warns Listeners It Will Be Less Exciting Than They Are Hoping

PHILADELPHIA

An old chrome desk microphone beside a steaming bowl of soup on a worn wooden table in warm lamplight.

In a move industry analysts called "commercially baffling," The Boring History Podcast released its first episode this week: a nearly hour-long look at where life came…

Society

HOA Fines Resident For Grass Being "Aggressively Lush, Emotionally Unsettling"

MAPLE GROVE, MN

A perfectly striped, vividly green front lawn between two patchy, dried-out neighboring yards, a blank notice staked in the grass.

The citation states Beckett's grass exhibited "a suspicious, almost defiant vibrancy" inconsistent with community standards.

Society

Political Junkie Concerned Happy Neighbor May Be Suffering From Undiagnosed Contentment

DES MOINES, IA

A sunny front porch with a lit penlight resting on the railing beside a glowing TV remote, and a hammock out of focus in the background.

Local political enthusiast Gary Pruett, 54, said Monday he is "deeply worried" about his next-door neighbor, Dale Hoskins, who appears to be suffering from a case of…

Society

Homeowners Association Forms Committee To Study Why Nobody Joins Committees

PLANO, TX

An empty suburban clubhouse meeting room with rows of folding chairs and a coffee urn, lit by warm evening light through the blinds.

Board members of the Willow Creek Homeowners Association voted Monday to form a new committee. Its job is to find out why residents keep declining to serve on committees.