Potter Pooper

I truly don't know what to say about this. My beloved and I were driving home on I-90 this morning and we saw a compact car with the conclusion of the newest Harry Potter book scrawled across its back window in big white letters:"XXX dies because XXX kills (him/her)."

I dropped my jaw. It's only been about 9 days since the long-awaited book was released and this driver decided to spill the beans to all the world. I had visions of parents hastily reaching over to cover their children's eyes, adult readers chasing after the car to express their literary road rage, etc., but nothing. Just me and my beloved staring at each other, amazed at the audacity.

I shouldn't have been so surprised, I guess. If the laws of physics are correct and "for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction," something like this was bound to happen in the wake of threatened lawsuits for early leaks. But when I lost my patience last Saturday morning and wanted an early reveal, I couldn't find any blog that would tell me the ending. So, I did what every impatient reader does, I read the last two chapters and I haven't cracked another page since. Hey, I'll get to it.

But I didn't tell anyone else the ending! Come on!

Do we have a social pact to keep secrets like this? Or should we be relieved to know that, no matter how good our manners are expected to be, there are people willing to break the unspoken rules -- and in a big way?

Since I just watched a powerful movie made as a criticism of McCarthy era complicity, Bad Day at Black Rock*, I'm going to side with the obnoxious driver. But if you haven't finished the book yet and you find yourself on the freeway, just keep your eyes on the road.

*Film Site is one of my favorite movie sites. Great analysis, historical context, and background information on classic works of cinema.