Thursday, February 9, 2012

Post #7,8,9 of 29

I may have dropped the ball a bit.  I have an excuse, and here it is:

On Tuesday Knox and I were supporting Koby and the CHS Lady Wolves basketball team (they lost a heartbreaker in overtime by two points - knocked them out of playoff possibility) and as for last night... well, I don't really have an excuse EXCEPT that Koby was home before 5:30 pm (no practice) and we were both so thrilled that we just sat around watching television and eating awesome food.

Today's blog is brought to you by

SOCIAL RELATIVITY  
I hope you’re hungry."
“Interesting. A friendly sentiment in this country, cruel taunt in the Sudan. It’s a lesson in context.


Leonard and Sheldon
- The Big Bang Theory, CBS 
More examples of contextual interpretation.

"You look like you're getting some junk in your trunk."
This was said to me by my husband over the weekend.  For me, it's a statement filled with hope.  For other women, it just might be the thing that their suspiciously missing husband said.  (In any context, he was wrong: I was just swollen from my strep shot.)

Dairy Expiration Date vs. Pay Day 
How is it that when I'm buying milk and I notice that the expiration date is uncomfortably close (sure to happen at Fuller's, by the way), that very same date might be the next pay day and feel tortuously far away?

"You remind me of Drew Barrymore / Leighton Meester  / Elisabeth Moss."


Basically any "compliment" my students give me would be an excellent example of 'social relativity' - it's amazing how they can combine "warm fuzzies" with "cold pricklies".  They've mastered this conversational conundrum to the point where it is almost poetic.  (i.e. "That picture is so pretty!  It doesn't even look like you!" "Thanks and.... Owwwww.")

And finally, the ultimate social relativity ... on days when I'm wondering if I'm a "Never Been Kissed" Drew Barrymore or the newer "Finally Skinny and Pretty Again" model, I get this in the mail.


It's a letter from Clyde, the Filipino child we sponsor through Compassion International*, and his mother.  "Ma'am, I hope that you will never get tired of writing my son and in encouraging him going to school."  Okay, did you want a letter every day?  Because you're reaching over thousands of miles and gripping my heart with your bare hands.  Want a pony?  I bet we can find one to send to Clyde...

And even more often, I'll see this boy.




The beautiful thing about family (and most lovely in the members of your family who can't speak yet) is that your husband, son, sister, mother doesn't care which celebrity tabloid you most resemble in your mismatched pajamas.  Your toddler doesn't care how much junk you're carrying in your trunk.  There's no comparison: it is what it is.  (Although my family does seem to put a lot of stock into how fast I can make a bottle or the ability to remember to switch the clothes from the washer to the dryer.) 


*Click the link to visit Compassion International's site and be sure to read my friend Sarah's inspiring blog post about child sponsorship.

1 comment:

  1. That letter is so sweet! I used to sponsor through Compassion (before I did Peace Corps) and still have the letters and pictures from Jacktone!

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