"A Matter of Principle"

[blueiris08]

Title: A Matter of Principle
Rating: PG
Category: Gen.
Characters: Sam, Dean, Original Character, and a bit of John.
Word Count: 5300
Summary: Wherein a school administrator from days past nearly blows Sam and Dean's cover.
Author’s Notes: The setting is post-'Nightshifter/'Folsom Prison Blues.' Thanks to just_ruth   for superfast beta and the title idea.

Comments

[coell]

Good story. I had a little chuckle -- I'm from Flint.

[blueiris08]

I'm from Flint.

In which case, you know that there isn't a double campus with a middle school and high school on the same or adjoining property. That bothered the hell out of me, because I shoot for having the background details right, but in the end...well, Flint. No one would have trouble buying the carjackings.

Glad you chuckled.

[coell]

Close enough, I suppose. Flint's an industrial ghost town since the mid 80's, about when the boys would have been there. The city schools have a "white flight" problem, so the typical question: "Do you want your kids to go to such dangerous schools?" is a thinly-veiled way of asking: "Do you want your kids going to such black schools?" No question the academics suffer terribly for the increased security and low incomes. The racial segregation in Flint is so strong that a mere ten-minute move in any direction can get you out of a 70% black school district into 99% white suburbs. If John really was staying in the cheapest housing possible, in a neighborhood that would support knife-carrying youths, it would have been a city public school for sure, which 9 of 10 are rated less than 5/10. In most cases though, the middle schools are within jogging distance, so the campus question didn't even bat an eye. Since you responded, I'm curious - what brought you to pick Flint as your setting?

Why Flint?

[blueiris08]

I slacked off on my feedback: sorry, and thanks for the info on the middle school/high school locations. All I could find were street addresses, and none of them seemed to be on the same streets

Re: Why Flint?

[coell]

Wow, thanks for such details! I was really just curious -- it's such a tiny detail in the story -- 99.5% of people probably didn't even bat an eyelash. Still I'm impressed to see you put so much thought into it. Looking forward to reading more of your work!