Molly Young

Watching them frolic beneath a wavy egg of ceiling, I became, once again, very sad. Here was a vision of human flourishing that was simultaneously simple and inconceivable. As a kid in San Francisco, I remember walking into a public library and overhearing a man crack the following joke. For a homeless shelter, this place sure has a lot of books.

Watching them frolic beneath a wavy egg of ceiling, I became, once again, very sad. Here was a vision of human flourishing that was simultaneously simple and inconceivable. As a kid in San Francisco, I remember walking into a public library and overhearing a man crack the following joke. For a homeless shelter, this place sure has a lot of books.

It would be a mistake not to mention that Odie performed a shelter function, too. There were people with an unusual volume of possessions using the space as a temperature-controlled sleeping enclosure. It was allowed. The sleepers weren't confined to any particular section. They were neither avoided nor harassed.

It would be a mistake not to mention that Odie performed a shelter function, too. There were people with an unusual volume of possessions using the space as a temperature-controlled sleeping enclosure. It was allowed. The sleepers weren't confined to any particular section. They were neither avoided nor harassed.

If that was a Finn's idea of the floor, zero on the cantril or close to it, how much did it matter that the ceiling was also, along certain axes, rather low? Did any of these tall, thick-haired Finnish people look around their library and think, what my country lacks is Jeff Bezos or the delusion of the opportunity to become him?

If that was a Finn's idea of the floor, zero on the cantril or close to it, how much did it matter that the ceiling was also, along certain axes, rather low? Did any of these tall, thick-haired Finnish people look around their library and think, what my country lacks is Jeff Bezos or the delusion of the opportunity to become him?

Perhaps the absence of that thought alone moves you one step up the ladder. In the course of a text conversation with a friend, I mentioned that I was exceedingly glum.

Perhaps the absence of that thought alone moves you one step up the ladder. In the course of a text conversation with a friend, I mentioned that I was exceedingly glum.

She called and kept calling until I called back, which is what a good friend does, and I rambled about my sorrow at watching the Finnish children rove and play and told her about how mothers of all ages gathered spontaneously in the library to chat or rest or idly massage their feet and

She called and kept calling until I called back, which is what a good friend does, and I rambled about my sorrow at watching the Finnish children rove and play and told her about how mothers of all ages gathered spontaneously in the library to chat or rest or idly massage their feet and

I explained that one of these mothers had placed her baby, a child of no more than nine months, in a high chair at a library cafe table and handed him a vegetable puree to consider, then left for 20 minutes to fetch books. When she came back, we exchanged smiles. She asked where I was visiting from. New York, I said. I have a little girl about your son's age. Ah, I haven't been to New York yet.

I explained that one of these mothers had placed her baby, a child of no more than nine months, in a high chair at a library cafe table and handed him a vegetable puree to consider, then left for 20 minutes to fetch books. When she came back, we exchanged smiles. She asked where I was visiting from. New York, I said. I have a little girl about your son's age. Ah, I haven't been to New York yet.

I would like to go. We talked about children and libraries and the relative safety of our nations. Every few years there's a crisis where a baby is stolen, but then it is returned or found 15 minutes later, she said of Finland. Nothing severe. Her son finished his puree and they waved goodbye, off to explore the fairytale wall.

I would like to go. We talked about children and libraries and the relative safety of our nations. Every few years there's a crisis where a baby is stolen, but then it is returned or found 15 minutes later, she said of Finland. Nothing severe. Her son finished his puree and they waved goodbye, off to explore the fairytale wall.

Travel has the effect of defamiliarizing one's home, and there were many things I learned about Finland only by comparing them with the status quo back home. From afar, actions I had considered annoying but unrelated in New York congealed into a category betraying a mixture of selfishness and cynicism.

Travel has the effect of defamiliarizing one's home, and there were many things I learned about Finland only by comparing them with the status quo back home. From afar, actions I had considered annoying but unrelated in New York congealed into a category betraying a mixture of selfishness and cynicism.

Littering, blocking subway doors, taking up two parking spaces, ignoring a mother struggling to hoist her kid's stroller up or down a flight of stairs. People behave antisocially for all kinds of reasons.

Littering, blocking subway doors, taking up two parking spaces, ignoring a mother struggling to hoist her kid's stroller up or down a flight of stairs. People behave antisocially for all kinds of reasons.

I could not, in the space of a week, discover why Finns did not rebel against their tiny coffee cups, or litter, or cut in line, or carry out loud cell phone conversations in public places, or why there was no visible dog waste, although some one in five of them owns a dog.

I could not, in the space of a week, discover why Finns did not rebel against their tiny coffee cups, or litter, or cut in line, or carry out loud cell phone conversations in public places, or why there was no visible dog waste, although some one in five of them owns a dog.