1994 Miracle Yearbook

Lucien says,"Hi!" Arnold, Lucien, Barry, and Norman, four mentally handi- capped men, lived relatively mainstreamed lives under the guidanceoftheirsupervisor,Jack. Theirswasnotastoryofmockery or pity, but rather one of laughter...shared laughter;for in their clumsy attempts to attain status and acceptance we saw a little of ourselves, recognizing anew the human qualities that are common to us all. Theaudienceisfirstintroduced to Arnold,a resident who in his extreme earnestness to do things well,inevitably doesthem badly. Ofcourse,theobvioussolutionto thisdilemmaistosimplymoveto Russia, which Arnold threatens to do on numerous occasions. Arnold shares his room with Lucien. Though his mental ca- pacity,accordingtoJack,is"some- wherebetweenthatofafive-year- old and an oyster," Lucien is de- termined to memorize the entire alphabetsothathemightimpress the Senatewith his recitation. Meanwhile, he spends his free time"reading"dustyAgricultural Almanacs, reminding all within earshop that "it's hard!" Barry is convinced that he is a golfpro.Perhapsasaresultofthe emotionaland physicalabusein- flicted upon him by his father, Barry is consumed with becom- ingasuccess. Thissuccessissym- bolized for him in the beeper that he hopes to someday purchase. Norman's symbol of success hangsfrom his belt: a wholering of keys which will unlock any door in the donutshop where he works. His greatest dream is to marry Sheila and to have a boy babyand a girl baby whocan eat all the free crullers they want. Not only must Jack make or- der of the chaotic confussion re- sultingfrom theidiosyncrasiesof these four men,but also he must contemplatehisowninternalcon- flict between altruism and self- fulfillment. Though Jack's reso- lutionfinallyassumestheform of atravelagentposition,acompro- mise that seems to lack the ben- efits of either polarity, Jack va- cates his supervisory role with the reassuring words of Arnold: "You have better behavior pat- terns than a lot of people,Jack." "Thanks,Arnold,"Jackreplies, "you do,too." •Marcy Hintz Photosby Scott Huck