They say we all turn into our parents eventually. When this happens is probably different for everybody, but I tend to think it begins once you have your own children and you find yourself using phrases, and doing things your parents used to do. We all remember certain sayings are parents would repeat over and over to emphasize a point they wanted to make. My mom always used that timeless classic….
“because I said so”……
Looking back at my childhood, I might have been a rather annoying child because another saying I always remember my mother repeating was…..
“just give me 5 minutes of quiet”…..
Of course she might have been referring to my other two siblings more than me, but I remember most times when she said this, I was the only one in the room.
There’s a series of insurance commercials currently running…..aren’t most commercials now-a-days insurance commercials, are we this poorly insured or incapable of finding insurance somehow that we need an endless loop of commercials reminding us we need insurance, but at least they are humorous…..this set of commercials highlights the very fact that people turn into their parents and exhibit behaviors like their parents. A therapist conducts seminars to help them try to not become their parents….like I said, at least the commercials are humorous, but I tend to think it’s all in vain….we all become are parents.
My mom also had this tendency to combine snacks…..she didn’t like a bunch of bags or boxes of snacks that were half gone. She probably could have invented Chex Mix back in the 70’s if she had a little foresight because there were numerous times I began eating a bag of chips to find that there were also pretzels, Chex cereal, Cheez-its and peanuts in with the chips.
The other day I was standing in front of the pantry staring at 4 boxes of cereal, 2 of which I knew without even picking up that there was less than 1/3 of cereal left in them, but of course nobody likes to be the one to finish a box of cereal when it gets low. Your left with the conundrum of either not having enough to make a full bowl or having enough for a bowl but it’s mainly crumbs and cereal dust….and nobody likes to eat cereal dust. My son also has this habit of eating the same cereal everyday for 2 months or so, then he grows tired of it and switches to a new cereal just after he’s opened a fresh box. I know exactly what cereal he was eating 2 months ago because a half a box of it is still in the pantry.
That’s when I found myself mumbling about needing room in the pantry and the need to get rid of these almost gone cereals, but of course I didn’t want to just throw them away….that would be wasteful.
Much to my son’s surprise, his next bowl of cereal will be…..Honey nut raisin cinnamon toast corn puffs.
Other thoughts……
I haven’t been doing much writing lately….a combination of lack of time, lack of subjects and general malaise. I find myself “writing” things in my head….but that’s probably the worst place to write because I’m usually busy and don’t have the time to actually write down what I’m thinking.
I recently saw a documentary on Ernest Hemingway, and he always devoted his mornings to writing, which was rather amazing because it seemed he always devoted his evenings to drinking. I have neither the time to do the one nor the desire to do the other……so I guess I’m no Hemingway…but you probably already knew that if you’ve read any of my blog postings. I dare say Hemingway never wrote about Nutella, so I’ve got one on ol’ Ernest.
I actually have a couple of stories I’ve partially written and saved on my blog, but I haven’t finished them enough to post them. Looking back at them, I’m not sure if they’ll be good enough to post or if they were ever good enough to start.
I recently read an interesting essay on writers and the process of writing, and one of the main points the author made was that the process of writing sucks until it all comes together at the end.
I had never heard of this author who wrote this essay, but he had some wonderful experiences…..one time he was in Pampolona Spain attending the festival where they run the bulls through the streets and he found himself in a small bar sitting across from a gentleman who introduced himself as someone else but who was clearly Ernest Hemingway….the white beard, the large imposing features….Pappa in all his glory, and this was before it was a “thing” to dress up and impersonate famous people. No, it was clearly Hemingway attending the festival that one of his famous books, The Sun Also Rises, was based upon, but trying to do so incognito, which is fairly humorous in itself.
The author of this essay was also friends with Peter Benchley in the 70’s, he of a little book called Jaws, which made for a frightful summer at the beach the year the movie came out. Apparently the author was complaining to Benchley that writing was difficult and questioning why he even tried to do it. Benchley, listened patiently for awhile and then asked a simple question…..
“if you no longer had to write because you had made enough money from it to live off, would you still do it?”……
I believe that’s what’s called a rhetorical question…
and now I feel like a snack…….I think there’s a bag of pretzel cheez-its peanut chips in the pantry….somebody’s been combining cereal and snacks again
Stay healthy and be kind….
John
John's Blog 