Great quotes

The New York Times published an article yesterday called "Vermont Town Shaken by a Co-op Killing." Last month, the wine manager at a Brattleboro co-op (a small grocery store owned in part by residents) fatally shot his supervisor after a poor performance review.

The quotes, mostly from townspeople or co-op employees, do a wonderful job in highlighting people's stunned reactions. The shooting was a very unusual tragedy in a town filled with artists and hippies:

1) “It’s not Walgreens or Price Chopper or Hannaford’s,” said Kelly Salasin, a member from neighboring Marlboro. “It is something that belongs to us, and there’s a sense of responsibility. It’s as if a murder happened in your own family.”

2) “There’s a part of me that feels a little shameful,” said Aimee Denette, 31, who works in the co-op’s bulk foods department. “Now there’s this very weird energy in the co-op because, I mean, someone was murdered here.”

The quotes do important work by bolstering the shock and weirdness that most of the townspeople seem to be feeling. Obviously a murder anywhere is gruesome, but there's something particularly odd about it happening in a co-op grocery store.

-Lauren