Saving Fish from Drowning - Heal Burma

AMY TAN
had a spiky hairdo and a no-nonsense face. She was toned, on the ex­
treme side, an anatomical model of pectorals, deltoids, and biceps
hardened through much disciplined exercise. Harry had found that
women who loved to exercise usually suffered from frigidity. For this
reason, athletic women were not his type. Besides, this one had a cer­
tain Sapphic quality, that hirsute area above the lip a deliberate Frida
Kahlo statement.
It was not by coincidence that Harry had run into these two
women. They were both reporters for Global News Network. Since
the story of the missing tourists broke, a dozen news bureaus had
sent teams disguised as tourists to flesh it out. The networks could
do only so many interviews with the missing travelers’ families,
friends, neighbors, co-workers, former teachers, former colleagues,
former spouses, ex-girlfriends, stepchildren, and ex-stepchildren.
One reporter had gone so far as to interview Marlena’s housekeeper.
The TV networks had not had a human interest story this riveting
since that baby girl fell into a well in Texas more than a dozen years
before. As in the baby’s case, the hour-by-hour updates on the miss­
ing tourists trumped news on wars and bombings, AIDS and unrest
in Angola. New advertisers came on board—dog food companies,
manufacturers of anti-anxiety medications—and bought thirty-
second spots. But now, if they were going to take advantage of the
public’s hunger for more, the networks needed more leads, more an­
gles, and, if possible, a juicy scoop to distinguish themselves from
other networks in close competition.
Late-night meetings were called among the news producers. Pro­
posals flew, and this one emerged: How about sending a team of re­
porters disguised as ordinary, bumbling tourists to get the real story?
We’ll equip them with what appear to be outdated and cheap video
recorders, and they’ll wear Hawaiian shirts, and socks with their
sandals. They’ll fumble with maps and guidebooks. Well, hop to it!
So that was what Harry saw when he strolled through the lobby of
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