"Daddy?”
“Yes darling”
“Why did Mrs Jones do that?”
“Do what darling?”
“Drive in like that? She could see she couldn’t get her car right in, and now she’s blocking all of us from coming out, which means she can’t get in, so we’re all stuck because of her.”
A moment of Radio 5LIve
“Daddy?”
“Yes darling”
“And why do woman in the Supermarket always make the girls on the till wait so long?”
“Wait for what”
“Until they have packed all their food away and then get their purses out and spend ages looking for cards and stuff. Why don’t they get it ready first so that they could take the money while they are filling their bags. We wouldn’t have to wait so long would, we? If we didn’t have to wait I wouldn’t mind shopping so much.”
Another crackling whistling snatch of 5Live
“Daddy?”
“mmm”
“Daddy, why is that when we are walking along the pavement girls never got out of our way, we always have to get out of theirs?”
“Manners darling”
“But I thought women wanted to be equal. That’s confusing. Do you remember those women in Marks and Spencers Daddy, the ones who stopped on the stairs for a chat and blocked everyone else from coming up or down? Do you remember them Daddy? Why did they do that? Couldn’t they see that no one could move while they were blocking the stairs? And they were only chatting about clothes anyway.”
Life is mysterious for a 12 year old (and for his Dad, if I'm honest)
18 comments:
me*: so, where's the kit that needs shifting?
barritone sax: over there (points)
me: (goes to pick up biggish piece of kit)
bass player: no no no, let the boys carry the big stuff
me: but I'm quite strong, it's not that heavy, I'm happy to muck in
barritone sax: yeah, in this band we're all equal!!
me: (ignores bass player, competently and confidently picks up biggish piece of kit) where do you want this?
bass player: no no no, we can manage dear**, let me take that, why don't you just hold the door open?
me: (raises eyes to heaven, grimaces at barritone sax, rather meanly lets door swing shut on bass player who having wrestled biggish piece of equipment out of my hands now needs my assistance; go off to paint nails thus am unable to help further until polish dries)
Beep, please tell Shonte that women find men just as confusing. . .***
*girly BV in 12 piece band
** some men really are this patronising, even though we've been living in C21st for a few years now
*** especially when said men then moan about being one of the only ones who to do the work. . .
(there are many more band stories to tell along this line, but I don't want to be accused of mistletoe-ing someone else's blog - again - so won't go on any longer)
WV: I-was-alone-I-took-a-ride-I-didn't-know-what-I-would-find-there
oh, barritone sax is a bloke BTW
WV: when-I-needed-sunshine-I-got-rain
who's accused you of mistletoeing their blog? Clearly they are cuckoo.
no, it's not the same as a cuckoo though is it (thought you lived in the country?)
WV: parasite
(oh, tell Son aspects of it might be a height thing - I find I have to step into the gutter sometimes, so people can keep walking in a straight line on the pavement that I was sharing with them: strange kind of invisibility, I find)
Did I say they were the same?
I pesumed, as mistletoe is a parasite, and from the context, that it was a rude comment. Am i wrong about that?
Anway, WTF, make as many and as long comments as you wish here. That's the only house rule. All comments are always welcome.
Oh and the other one is I am the sole judge. And that applies to everything.
ps: maybe also discuss with child (as I do with my two x male, one x female) that chivalry might be some bizarre form of out-dated social semi-mysogonistic (sorry, can't spell it) control
?? well, it might !!
but mention that that thought is from a woman's point of view. . . although do it in a way that doesn't make him think you think like a woman, that might worry him
but on the other hand, it might not
I'm very confused now; but on equality I'm not: everything between men/woman is (should be) equal - it's just that some things are more equal than others; but it is always important to remember your manners, apart from when you will be at an obvious disadvantage and then you might as well be as rude and pushy as the next person
as long as you don't mind apologising afterwards if you realise you were wrong/made a tit of yourself/offended someone
god, parenting, it's a bloody nightmare
oh and I never make rude comments, never intentionally anyhow; it wouldn't be nice, would it?
(manners see!!)
I happen to believe in chivalry.
However, I do wish that when 2 women are walking abreast (as it were) and the pavement is only wide enough for two they would make SOME effort to reduce their pavement hogging.
I got a little fed up of being forced into the road, so no longer give way if they are younger than me (that's Most fo them) and get lots of 'tsk' and 'tut' noises.
Bugger 'em.
My pavement, my rates, my rights.
Wolkuckd; which is what happens to my Wolk with the dog if any women are coming the other way.
but that's the thing about chivalry, the conundrum so to speak, you can't have it all ways - can you!
and that is the thing about height, I find - people don't notice you if your eye level is above theirs and thus you are invisible and this they don't tend to get out of your way
but I am totally with you on the age thing, and the confidence that it brings (which is why I love being my age) (bit like that scene in that Kathy Bates film where she shunts someone's car and says something about age and follows it up with a comment about insurance)
(boy, that would have been so muchy more effective if I could have remembered whatever it was she said) (another effect of age, the downside perhaps!)
ps: can't believe anyone would do that to your cute little dog (and I'm not even a dog person)
Yes, but you can't smell him. They can!
Such a perceptive child. When you gonna teach him that these observations are usually accompanied by a middle finger?
so is it mostly women who are obnoxious?
or are there different standards of what expected from women and men in terms of courtesy?
Its kind of interesting. I can't stand women who expect to be fawned over just because they are a) women, or b) older.
People should be respectful of everyone (including children-you ever notice how ignorant people are towards children?). It might be a bit warmer world if we all behaved with a basic level of courtesy.
p.s. do you really call your son darling? that must be a UK speech thing. Very sweet.
Usually you only hear women calling children darling here (if at all-its not a common endearment)
Yes Kyah, I really do.
May be a single dad thing?
I guess one day he'll, er, indicate that he might prefer something esle, but for now, while it's still my call, it's darling.
PS My dad calls me darling. Must be a family thing. Except I mean it.
Er, I think 12 year old is not finding life mysterious at all! He seems right on the ball to me.
I think I'll shut my mouth now before I get into....no, no I'll shut my mouth.
After all, we women are often not objective about men :)
hey - I have a great update on this one:
was taking my daily walk along the river (yeah, me too, daily walk along a river, funny that) along the tow-path, and I could see this dog coming at me from a distance with a HUGE piece of driftwood in its mouth (looking kind of smug, just like a man who can multi-task by chewing gum and walking down the street at the same time, only clever doogy was trotting apace and the piece of driftwood was about three times the size of the dog) and I eyeballed the dog and it eyeballed me and it came ever closer and closer and we were on collision course and I was trying to estimate the impact damage from collision with driftwood and whether I should just give in to my invisibility in all matter pavement/tow-path/walking
when the dog took about six doggy paces to its' left in the last few feet before it got to the place where it would have collided with me, and thus missed clouting me with the driftwood by about three inches
in the way that a cyclist would have run me over or sprayed me with mud and or binged his/her bell at me for ME to move, or a runner would have not avoided me such that I didn't get bumped by his/her backpack/thighs
dogs have gone up in my estimations today
just thought you'd like to know that
must have been a bright dog.
Or even muts have been.
I want a bright dog. Mine is so short sighted now he needs to be within about 20 paces to see me. And I am not easy to miss.
very bright and very perky, lovely creature*
and it went past very past so I didn't have to bother to get to know it
*and that's coming from someone who doesn't "do" dogs, having been savaged by one of those white ones with black spots at a very early age, and later by a boyfriend's Rotweiler (it used to leap up at me and pin me to the wall when I entered the house, with its front paws, and procede to chew my earrings out of my ears)(and in the mornings, it used to push the door open of the room I slept in when I stayed over - however firmly I had shut it, think it used it paw on the handle, and sit spread-eagled, or spread-doggled I should say, on top of me: waking me up in a very unpleasant way - but also rendering me immobile)
dogs? make me shudder
and they generally smell bad
oh god, it's all coming back: I used to babysit at this house with a big red setter and it used to spend all evening trying to sniff my crotch - not nice for a teenage girl, in fact not nice at all. . .
dogs? I'm beginning to shake all over, but not in a nice way
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