[149/365] debrief of a big week

[cosmolinguist]

I love talking to Boomers. Tonight on Skype my parents told me that in the official phone call their friend got, telling her that she has federal jury duty, she was also told that it's not safe to drive in downtown Minneapolis because people are jumping on your car, unlocking it from the outside, dragging you out of the car and stealing it.

Also my parents still don't know the difference between a text message and an e-mail. So no I didn't get the photo of them with one of their anniversary presents (cute plants in a big pot that had a "happy 50th" sign added to it) that they "sent to my phone" on Friday (I hope they weren't charged for the international MMS!) but I do have it now. It is very cute.

For all that I'm exasperated by them, I'm also sympathetic to my mom's disappointment that her family didn't do more for their big anniversary. Friends they've had longer than I've been alive took them out to a nice dinner with drinks and ice cream and everything, and bought them the plants and put the sign on the pot. But my mom was like "they didn't have to take their whole Friday to take us out to eat" in that same way she says "they didn't have to take their Thanksgiving away from their family" during the years when this same couple saves my parents from spending the day with everyone they always used to spend it with, except their own kids. I wish my parents did know about family-of-choice but since they didn't Mom feels like she's been an imposition to people she couldn't expect it of and like she's been neglected by people she expected more of. And I wish she could see this how I do, but there's always going to be this mismatch for her, this lack.

Comments

[otter]

We prefer to take the bus downtown and then walk from the bus stop. Parking fees are outright thievery, the way I see it. It's a matter of perspective about who is the thief. Are carjackings happening? Yes. And they are still rare, compared to how many people DON'T get carjacked every day. She ought to be more concerned about catalytic converter theft. It's happened to us twice in less than a year- though the second time, it was just damaged not stolen.