 There is no birdsong to be heard anymore as a wedding procession drives past on this quiet country road, trailing in its wake a retinue of ordinary life stories, made up of pettiness and envy. Gossip flies around faster than the lead car, the sound of tears is louder than that of the horns blowing in honor of the newly-weds, and laughter is the antidote to all of life s blows, cushioning its passengers as airbags would.