HOW WISE IT WAS of them to distract us immediately, to load us down with the trivial, essential details: filling out of forms, turning in of clothing, showing us our rooms. Though I shouldn’t, perhaps, call it wisdom on their part. I can’t be certain they care which way any one of us chooses. They seem indifferent to the final result. ‘They’ are, so far, the Director and his assistant. The assistant is a clown. A tall, bony Negro man, he is capable of mock seriousness, but that is all. He is a sort of fake stooge for the Director. Everyone is embarrassed and turns away from the sight of his antics. In a way, though, I find it reassuring. Mockery is, after all, closer to life than to death. I think …