I saw an ad last night during the Olympics that made me rethink my ten year relationship with my minivan. I know what you're thinking: "Relationship?" It is a fact that I've spent a good bit of the last ten years inside my minivan, in spite of my "stay at home mom" job description.
I drive a Honda Odyssey, with the first Honda navigation system installed. The navigation system was always talking to us in the beginning (until we learned how to turn her voice off) and we had to give her a name. It's not terribly original, but we call her "Odyssey". To truly appreciate this creative instinct you have to know we adopted a cat from the Humane Society and they'd already given him a "cage name". Our girls felt that it was wrong to change his name, so "Trent" he remains. But I digress.
Anyway, in the ad a man called his van the "Swagger Wagon". So I've decided that's what I'll call Odyssey from now on. I'll admit, I'm not much of a swaggerer. As one of the older Mom's in my posse, I'm more hep than hip. I'll have to work towards swaggering, one step at a time.
I've considered the following options for Swagger Wagon. 1. Shiny new wheels Or Shiny, spinning wheels. Sadly: not in my budget. 2. New speaker system. Sadly: also not in my budget. And that's all I've got so far.
I have announced to my homies on Facebook that I've changed Odyssey's name. I'm getting mixed reviews. One person so far "likes" the change. Another says she thinks the name Swagger Wagon is temporary. But she doesn't know me. Swagger Wagon has at least another 100k miles left on her. And by then I'll have those shiny new wheels. Second hand of course. And I'm all over the new speaker system. I found this really cool set of portable speakers. They're called hearing aids.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
I just want you to be happy and be a good citizen.
I remember the day my dad talked to me about what it meant to be a real adult. It was not long after I'd taken a stand at my school opposing censorship.
To make a long story short, our school held a service club competition every year which involved skits. My club's skit "went over the line" with the faculty censorship committee, because one of our characters behaved in a "gay" manner. The committee said that we'd have to remove this character and all references to his behavior when we performed for the competition. We tried to argue with the committee, explaining that the most popular tv show of the time ("Three's Company") went well beyond the trivial gestures and exaggerations of our character, but they disagreed.
As President of my service club, I met with the President of the boy's service club we worked with for the skit, and we talked about our options. When we met with our members we took a vote on two choices: alter the play or perform it as is. The clubs voted 100% in favor of performing it as it had been originally written.
On performance night, the skits were awarded points by judges in the audience. These judges were not aware of the faculty censorship committee's demands. Points were announced and clearly indicated our skit was the winner. The Vice Principal took the stage announcing there were "issues with the judging" and a conference of judges and school officials met behind closed curtains for 10 minutes before trophies were awarded. The result of this meeting was that our club had points removed for violating the ruling of the censorship committee. We were given last place in the competition. When club members met after the results we were not unhappy. We knew we had won, regardless of who took the trophy home. What we didn't know was the reach of the long arms of the committee.
My parents and I were called into the Vice Principal's office. We were all sternly talked to about my behavior. I was given time to explain my position for leading my club to violate the censorship rules. Mr Dawkin's listened. Then my parents told him that I had their support. His response was tough, though really only words. A letter would be placed in my permanent file telling the story from his point of view. I would be given the chance to reply in my own letter, which would also be place in my file. Mr Dawkin's seemed caught between a rock and a hard place. I felt his wrath but didn't really think he agreed with the path he had to take, but he had to take it.
So Dad and I, a week or so later, talked about what it meant to be an adult and a citizen. He told me that he thought I already knew the important things. I had already participated in an election, as a campaign volunteer. I had fought against censorship. But he told me he also hoped that in life I could find happiness. With work, with people and with my government. At the time I didn't really see the depth of what he meant.
Looking back I realize that personal happiness is just one part of a good life. He was right. If you aren't able to find happiness across the full spectrum of your life, you aren't doing your country or the world any good by being here. It's taken me over 30 years to "get" that. Thanks Dad!
Now, as a parent, I have the opportunity to create a few more good AND HAPPY citizens. They participated in their first election, as volunteers for two candidates who won. I explained that this will not always happen, but we bask in the joy of the present. They know that sometimes they will work hard and the person who appears to be the best candidate will not win, but the process must survive. They know they must be part of the process.
This year the oldest has Civics, and an outstanding teacher. Last night she drafted her first letter the the editor of the local paper. I was asked to proofread. Immensely proud of my daughter for taking a stand on the issue of campaign finance reform, I have to remember to have the "BE HAPPY" conversation with her. Because it still really matters.
To make a long story short, our school held a service club competition every year which involved skits. My club's skit "went over the line" with the faculty censorship committee, because one of our characters behaved in a "gay" manner. The committee said that we'd have to remove this character and all references to his behavior when we performed for the competition. We tried to argue with the committee, explaining that the most popular tv show of the time ("Three's Company") went well beyond the trivial gestures and exaggerations of our character, but they disagreed.
As President of my service club, I met with the President of the boy's service club we worked with for the skit, and we talked about our options. When we met with our members we took a vote on two choices: alter the play or perform it as is. The clubs voted 100% in favor of performing it as it had been originally written.
On performance night, the skits were awarded points by judges in the audience. These judges were not aware of the faculty censorship committee's demands. Points were announced and clearly indicated our skit was the winner. The Vice Principal took the stage announcing there were "issues with the judging" and a conference of judges and school officials met behind closed curtains for 10 minutes before trophies were awarded. The result of this meeting was that our club had points removed for violating the ruling of the censorship committee. We were given last place in the competition. When club members met after the results we were not unhappy. We knew we had won, regardless of who took the trophy home. What we didn't know was the reach of the long arms of the committee.
My parents and I were called into the Vice Principal's office. We were all sternly talked to about my behavior. I was given time to explain my position for leading my club to violate the censorship rules. Mr Dawkin's listened. Then my parents told him that I had their support. His response was tough, though really only words. A letter would be placed in my permanent file telling the story from his point of view. I would be given the chance to reply in my own letter, which would also be place in my file. Mr Dawkin's seemed caught between a rock and a hard place. I felt his wrath but didn't really think he agreed with the path he had to take, but he had to take it.
So Dad and I, a week or so later, talked about what it meant to be an adult and a citizen. He told me that he thought I already knew the important things. I had already participated in an election, as a campaign volunteer. I had fought against censorship. But he told me he also hoped that in life I could find happiness. With work, with people and with my government. At the time I didn't really see the depth of what he meant.
Looking back I realize that personal happiness is just one part of a good life. He was right. If you aren't able to find happiness across the full spectrum of your life, you aren't doing your country or the world any good by being here. It's taken me over 30 years to "get" that. Thanks Dad!
Now, as a parent, I have the opportunity to create a few more good AND HAPPY citizens. They participated in their first election, as volunteers for two candidates who won. I explained that this will not always happen, but we bask in the joy of the present. They know that sometimes they will work hard and the person who appears to be the best candidate will not win, but the process must survive. They know they must be part of the process.
This year the oldest has Civics, and an outstanding teacher. Last night she drafted her first letter the the editor of the local paper. I was asked to proofread. Immensely proud of my daughter for taking a stand on the issue of campaign finance reform, I have to remember to have the "BE HAPPY" conversation with her. Because it still really matters.
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