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STORY SUMMARY: Are there certain things you shouldn’t be able to insure against? In this work of philosophical short story fiction, the narrator has an eating disorder, and mental health issues. Regardless, she is a good employee at an insurance company. Just before closing, a call arrives from a good client, the local diocese who inquires about getting insurance to protect them against sexual abuse of children by priests. She takes the issue, and her concerns, to her boss who threatens to fire her if she fails to write the policy. It’s not their job to judge, he says, it’s their job to insure. A flashback shows why this point strikes so close home with the narrator. As a young child she was bullied on the school bus for being overweight. In an attempt to lose weight she started getting off the bus early to walk the last three miles home. Later, her bully accused the bus driver of touching her when they were on the bus alone together. Having come full circle, not much has changed. The narrator writes the contract, and sends it to the diocese to sign and return.
DISCUSSION: A wonderful story set in Ireland in the 1980’s that asks an important question about risk, and what you should and shouldn’t be able to insure against. Of course, you can’t crash your car and get an insurance payout. You can’t burn down your own house and then make a claim. Can you insure against sexual assault allegations if you know those allegations are likely to be coming soon? What obligations, if any, does the insurance company have to ask questions first, or to report what they may know?
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