Yes and I'm sure the brat was sent to school, but just seems to head off riding anywhere, without actually going to school.

There are a bunch of subtle jokes in this otherwise serious movie that I thought were hilarious. One of my favorites was the guy drinking a can of Coors and eating a chicken leg who waves to Genevieve Bujold just before his deck and house collapse and then you see him slowly somersault down the hill. Another one is where someone tells a guy with a cigarette in his mouth to go back inside the house and shut off the gas. Kaboom!