Thoughts from a Sunday Walkabout
It's a beautiful Sunday here in the People's Republic of Arlington, so I took my Sunday afternoon constitutional down the main drag of Trendy North Arlington. Some things I noticed:
1. It's an iPod world. On this gorgeous Sunday, just about every other person I passed was walking or jogging down the street with the telltale white earbuds, totally oblivious to what was going on. No cellphones (for a change) but plugged in and tuned out. How sad. I, of course, was wandering down the street listening to my new playlist for May 2005 with sunglasses on. But I wasn't oblivious, honest.
2. Americans seem to have lost the capacity for joy -- everything has to be a downer or a problem. Case in point is media coverage of today's Hallmark Holiday, Mother's Day. Now, I have no particular fondness for the day -- as with Valentine's Day, if you honor and respect your mother the rest of the year, there's no need to make an economic fuss over her today. However, all of the major papers and tv outlets I saw today were running big articles on how HARD it was to be a mother, how much busier women are than fifty years ago, why does Madison Avenue target moms and mention them in the ads and not dads ("Choosy Moms Choose Jif!") and how single dads should boycott those products, blah, blah, blah.
They are probably right, BUT if we're going to make a big deal over this invented holiday, go with the cheese, the schmaltz, and the saccarine and run profiles of "the best mom ever", GI's phoing home to their mom's etc. Just relax and enjoy the holiday. There are lots of women out there who would love to be be busy doing the hard work of mothering, but can't for one reason or another, and really aren't up for hearing the whining of those who have kids. Save it for Gymboree. And no, the media should not be running articles on the infertile or the women who waited too long or can't find a good mate or whatever the reason is that they they didn't have kids either. Sometimes let's just have the silver lining and not the cloud.
3. Speaking of Mother's Day, my mother called me to say that she had gotten the loveliest card from Bogie the Puppy. Oh yeah, she got one from her kid, too, but it was Bogie's card that she was carrying around. "What a sweet puppy -- look what he sent me!". It was pretty awful this year that the cards from the dog in general were better than the cards from the actual children. Bogie, you owe me $2.59 plus tax and a first class stamp.
It's a beautiful Sunday here in the People's Republic of Arlington, so I took my Sunday afternoon constitutional down the main drag of Trendy North Arlington. Some things I noticed:
1. It's an iPod world. On this gorgeous Sunday, just about every other person I passed was walking or jogging down the street with the telltale white earbuds, totally oblivious to what was going on. No cellphones (for a change) but plugged in and tuned out. How sad. I, of course, was wandering down the street listening to my new playlist for May 2005 with sunglasses on. But I wasn't oblivious, honest.
2. Americans seem to have lost the capacity for joy -- everything has to be a downer or a problem. Case in point is media coverage of today's Hallmark Holiday, Mother's Day. Now, I have no particular fondness for the day -- as with Valentine's Day, if you honor and respect your mother the rest of the year, there's no need to make an economic fuss over her today. However, all of the major papers and tv outlets I saw today were running big articles on how HARD it was to be a mother, how much busier women are than fifty years ago, why does Madison Avenue target moms and mention them in the ads and not dads ("Choosy Moms Choose Jif!") and how single dads should boycott those products, blah, blah, blah.
They are probably right, BUT if we're going to make a big deal over this invented holiday, go with the cheese, the schmaltz, and the saccarine and run profiles of "the best mom ever", GI's phoing home to their mom's etc. Just relax and enjoy the holiday. There are lots of women out there who would love to be be busy doing the hard work of mothering, but can't for one reason or another, and really aren't up for hearing the whining of those who have kids. Save it for Gymboree. And no, the media should not be running articles on the infertile or the women who waited too long or can't find a good mate or whatever the reason is that they they didn't have kids either. Sometimes let's just have the silver lining and not the cloud.
3. Speaking of Mother's Day, my mother called me to say that she had gotten the loveliest card from Bogie the Puppy. Oh yeah, she got one from her kid, too, but it was Bogie's card that she was carrying around. "What a sweet puppy -- look what he sent me!". It was pretty awful this year that the cards from the dog in general were better than the cards from the actual children. Bogie, you owe me $2.59 plus tax and a first class stamp.
posted by Lily @ Sunday, May 08, 2005
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