Living in Salem

This is a section of sidewalk in Salem. The graffitti reads "Be Happy Please," which is an odd thing for a person to write in wet cement. Usually you see things like "BB Was Here" or "BB ♥ DW." I've never seen a request in wet cement before. The word "please" makes it particularly poignant, as if it is a plea and not merely a "Don't Worry Be Happy" brand of optimistic sentiment. I first saw this eight years ago on my first visit to Salem as a tourist. I was in a major funk at the time, and even though I was thoroughly enjoying my vacation, I found myself sitting at a sidewalk cafe with a cup of coffee and crying for no reason. A few minutes later I walked along this sidewalk and found this message in cement. I had a friend in college who was really into psychic phenomena, and she believed that if she saw something like a motto on a billboard, or on the side of a truck, for example, and it was relevant to her situation, she took it as a sign. I couldn't help feeling that this message in cement was a sign to me. Being that I was in what is arguably the psychic capital of America made it seem even more significant. This message is still there, eight years later. When I first saw it, I would never have imagined that someday I'd be living in Salem. But here I am. My funk is long gone now, but this graffitti in cement still serves as a message of hope every time I walk past it. The unknown person who that particular day came across wet cement and decided to write those words to the people of Salem will probably never know that his or her message reached at least one person who really needed it at the time.

And this is the statue of Samantha Stephens from "Bewitched" that graces downtown Salem. When it was first installed two years ago, it caused a lot of controversy. The local witches loved it. So much so, in fact, that when they attended TVLand's official unveiling ceremony and chanted "All Hail Queen Samantha." But many of the residents who don't care for the witch stuff that goes on in Salem didn't want the statue. I'm somewhere in the middle. I agree, it doesn't relate to Salem, but I think it's cute and it doesn't bother me that it's downtown. It'll be gone in 8 years anyway (TV Land has an agreement with the city to install it for 10 years only). But what does a cult 60's sitcom really have to do with Salem? Apart from the fact that "Bewitched" filmed three episodes here in 1970, nothing, really. But the statue is fun, and tourists are constantly taking its photo, or putting their small children on it and taking their photo.