The Pope's Quitting?

My first reaction was: which establishment still needs a book signing poster?

Really. I never really realized how important the Pope still is. Obviously not to me. I don't live in Mexico or any other Latin American Catholic zones, or in the African countries being pulled in the divergent directions of Islam and Catholicism.

When the Polish Pope died I was living in San Luis Obispo and working at a greasy spoon, and I was taken aback by how much attention the story got. When you live your life in the way we do, Popes dying don't register so much, and then the surprise takes over.

Same thing here. Guy's retiring? Okay...does the Bike Stand on Broadway need a poster (Yes. Delivered today.)?

I'm more interested in the fact that this is the first time since 1415 (almost six-hundred years!) that a Pope is retiring. Is it because of the molestation scandals? They'll never say, but it's almost good to see the buck stopping for a change.

I remember a comedian once talking about Ratzinger, the current German Pope, and saying something like, "People are upset the Pope's a Nazi? The Nazi's got nothing on the Catholics, man. They should be like, 'Yo, we gots ourselves a Pope, son!'" The idea being that the Catholics have wreaked more havoc than the Nazis is (probably) atrocious to Catholics, but the facts speak for themselves.

NOT LETTING YOUR MIDDLE MANAGEMENT TAKE WIVES OR LOVERS IS INHERENTLY A BAD IDEA, AND WILL RESULT IN ATROCITIES BEYOND COMPREHENSION.

Had to get that off my chest.