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shalannaToday at lunchtime was Stitch-and-Bitch Day--er, Sit-and-Knit (or Crochet, or Sew, or just play with yarn)--for my mom and her small crew of loyalists. They're officially knitting a quilt square-by-square, but if they have other handwork, they might do that instead. Depends on their moods. All of them being well over 65, they spend a lot of time chatting about their ailments. But they do know other stuff, too! And they tell me about it! For instance:
"Some woman was driving along with her windows down," said Erna, knitting needles clacking along to "Purl," "and a grackle flew in her window and made her lose control and she crashed into a utility pole and it killed her! And they found the bird dead on the seat beside her!"
"No," said Mama. "That's awful. Keep your windows rolled up!" she admonished me.
"I always do," said Vergie. "But yesterday I took one too many of my pills, and this morning I evacuated my bowels COMPLETELY and I am still weak."
Thelma clucked her tongue. "You need to write those pills down."
"I usually do. My pen ran out."
"Yesterday on the news they had this horrid segment about a taxidermist who freeze-dries house pets who've died . . . it gave me nightares," Thelma said.
(I caught THAT one myself, unwillingly, because Mama turned the channel to evil WFAA Channel 8 before my re-run was over, claiming she "wanted to see the weather." She has her own TV in her room complete with TiVo, VCR, DVD, and cable box, but can't resist turning MY TV to gross stuff.)
"Horrible! But did you hear about the man in Houston whose house caught on fire and it killed his 180 parrots and exotic birds, and he spent the next day burying each of them separately, and he's 71?"
"And now there's a huge tree in Heaven twittering wildly, full of those birds waiting for Daddy," said Mina.
I hadda leave the room 'cause I don't like them to catch me wiping my eyes.
@ ^ @
Perhaps you missed BELOIT COLLEGE'S MINDSET LIST® FOR THE CLASS OF 2010. The kids (and I say that because I'm old, and they are starting to look like kids) of the class of 2010, who entered college a couple of days ago for the fall semester, were born in 1988 or thereabouts. In their little minds, to quote the list, "Billy Carter, Lucille Ball, Gilda Radner, Billy Martin, Andy Gibb, and Secretariat have always been dead." I suppose it would be more accurate to say that these icons were gone by the time these students were born. What they mean, though, is clear. We don't share a common culture so much any more. Not just because of the fragmentation of pop culture and the vertical markets for entertainment, but also because of the generation gappe.
What *I* always think about is that when they were born, most households had a computer and most people were getting e-mail. Now e-mail is ubiquitous, and so are cell phones. They've never had to plan a long trip so that you'd be near a pay phone at certain times so that you could call home and/or the destination to assure people that you were safe and on your way. They've never had to wander the State Fair trying to find a working pay phone in order to get a taxi home. They've had cell phones all through school . . . and had laptops, so they NEVER had to copy an entire essay over for "messy handwriting" or having more than three cross-outs per page. I demand a do-over!!
However, they never had 45RPM singles and a portable record player . . . an old-fashioned swimming hole with a swing-out Tarzan rope (except a fake one at a water park) . . . and hours and hours of afternoon time free to just do as they pleased, indoors or out. At least I don't THINK most of them did. That's the stuff I remember from MY childhood.
Interesting stuff from the official list:
1. The Soviet Union has never existed, and therefore is about as scary as the student union.
Wow. While the "duck and cover" stuff was over by the time I started first grade, we still had fire/emergency drills and there were Civil Defense symbols on the walls of public buildings. We lined up and exited and went into the basement or into the cafeteria to simulate disaster response. We always knew that if there were a bright flash and mushroom cloud, we were doomed. We actually did think about that and fear the possibility.
6. A stained blue dress is as famous to their generation as a third-rate burglary was to their parents'.
Well . . . I would further say that they trust the government too much because they didn't experience Watergate and the wholesale breach of trust that was exposed at the time. The "blue dress" hoo-ha was really just a sin or indiscretion that should have mattered only to the people involved and spouses (and was between them and God), but was "spun" into a pseudo-scandal by people who were looking for a way to "zap" and make trouble; it wasn't at all the same kind of idiocy that led to the Watergate hearings. Again I say, "those who do not remember/know the past are doomed to repeat it."
13. Reality shows have always been on television.
And some people actually believe they are some version of "reality." But what about the camera crew, the producer, and all the other support staff who are there with them? They're not exactly "stranded," guys.
18. Television stations have never concluded the broadcast day with the national anthem.
Well . . . I kinda miss that one. And the flyover of the jets! And the test pattern!
The actual list is out there (Google it up if you dare) and is © 2006 Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin.
"Some woman was driving along with her windows down," said Erna, knitting needles clacking along to "Purl," "and a grackle flew in her window and made her lose control and she crashed into a utility pole and it killed her! And they found the bird dead on the seat beside her!"
"No," said Mama. "That's awful. Keep your windows rolled up!" she admonished me.
"I always do," said Vergie. "But yesterday I took one too many of my pills, and this morning I evacuated my bowels COMPLETELY and I am still weak."
Thelma clucked her tongue. "You need to write those pills down."
"I usually do. My pen ran out."
"Yesterday on the news they had this horrid segment about a taxidermist who freeze-dries house pets who've died . . . it gave me nightares," Thelma said.
(I caught THAT one myself, unwillingly, because Mama turned the channel to evil WFAA Channel 8 before my re-run was over, claiming she "wanted to see the weather." She has her own TV in her room complete with TiVo, VCR, DVD, and cable box, but can't resist turning MY TV to gross stuff.)
"Horrible! But did you hear about the man in Houston whose house caught on fire and it killed his 180 parrots and exotic birds, and he spent the next day burying each of them separately, and he's 71?"
"And now there's a huge tree in Heaven twittering wildly, full of those birds waiting for Daddy," said Mina.
I hadda leave the room 'cause I don't like them to catch me wiping my eyes.
Perhaps you missed BELOIT COLLEGE'S MINDSET LIST® FOR THE CLASS OF 2010. The kids (and I say that because I'm old, and they are starting to look like kids) of the class of 2010, who entered college a couple of days ago for the fall semester, were born in 1988 or thereabouts. In their little minds, to quote the list, "Billy Carter, Lucille Ball, Gilda Radner, Billy Martin, Andy Gibb, and Secretariat have always been dead." I suppose it would be more accurate to say that these icons were gone by the time these students were born. What they mean, though, is clear. We don't share a common culture so much any more. Not just because of the fragmentation of pop culture and the vertical markets for entertainment, but also because of the generation gappe.
What *I* always think about is that when they were born, most households had a computer and most people were getting e-mail. Now e-mail is ubiquitous, and so are cell phones. They've never had to plan a long trip so that you'd be near a pay phone at certain times so that you could call home and/or the destination to assure people that you were safe and on your way. They've never had to wander the State Fair trying to find a working pay phone in order to get a taxi home. They've had cell phones all through school . . . and had laptops, so they NEVER had to copy an entire essay over for "messy handwriting" or having more than three cross-outs per page. I demand a do-over!!
However, they never had 45RPM singles and a portable record player . . . an old-fashioned swimming hole with a swing-out Tarzan rope (except a fake one at a water park) . . . and hours and hours of afternoon time free to just do as they pleased, indoors or out. At least I don't THINK most of them did. That's the stuff I remember from MY childhood.
Interesting stuff from the official list:
1. The Soviet Union has never existed, and therefore is about as scary as the student union.
Wow. While the "duck and cover" stuff was over by the time I started first grade, we still had fire/emergency drills and there were Civil Defense symbols on the walls of public buildings. We lined up and exited and went into the basement or into the cafeteria to simulate disaster response. We always knew that if there were a bright flash and mushroom cloud, we were doomed. We actually did think about that and fear the possibility.
6. A stained blue dress is as famous to their generation as a third-rate burglary was to their parents'.
Well . . . I would further say that they trust the government too much because they didn't experience Watergate and the wholesale breach of trust that was exposed at the time. The "blue dress" hoo-ha was really just a sin or indiscretion that should have mattered only to the people involved and spouses (and was between them and God), but was "spun" into a pseudo-scandal by people who were looking for a way to "zap" and make trouble; it wasn't at all the same kind of idiocy that led to the Watergate hearings. Again I say, "those who do not remember/know the past are doomed to repeat it."
13. Reality shows have always been on television.
And some people actually believe they are some version of "reality." But what about the camera crew, the producer, and all the other support staff who are there with them? They're not exactly "stranded," guys.
18. Television stations have never concluded the broadcast day with the national anthem.
Well . . . I kinda miss that one. And the flyover of the jets! And the test pattern!
The actual list is out there (Google it up if you dare) and is © 2006 Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin.
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no subject
Date: 2006-08-24 12:39 am (UTC)