sunday talks with mom
On Sunday nights I talk to my mom on the phone. These talks always drive me a little crazy. That’s because this is when it becomes frighteningly clear to me that my mom’s view of the world is shaped by a special mix of not going anywhere beyond a 30 mile radius from home, extensive television watching, and a propensity for phoibias. Let me tell ya, it’s a winning combination. She once complained to me about how bad lines are at the airport now. But I know she hasn’t been to an airport for over 20 years. I was visiting her a few weeks ago and we ran across a driver with a dead battery. She advised me against giving them a jump because they would probably sue me. Today she told me she thinks muslim people are trying to take over France and Italy by moving there. It gives new meaning to “tv guide”.
June 7th, 2005 at 6:21 pm
hi… i’m not trying to sound crazy.. just an article i read about nostradamus (hope I spelt that correctly), the prophet who lived hundreds of years back and whose prophecies have come true. He said that there would come a time that the muslims were going to take over the world.. and for western part, it would start from some countries in europe (the UK, France and Italy) then to the Americas.. a big vast growth would be in the UK and France first, according to him.. Its just what I read.. I dont know if that would actually happen tho..
June 7th, 2005 at 8:46 pm
Nostradamus says my mom may be right!? Maybe there’s something to be said for not going anywhere, getting all your information from the tv and being phobic. I will now test this theory by leaving my tv on all the time and never going far from my house. I think the phobias will just naturally spring up after a while of living like that. Let the experiment begin!
June 8th, 2005 at 6:58 am
im a moslem
just spamming, tee hee ^O^
but im really a moslem
June 10th, 2005 at 11:40 am
I’m French, so I guess I live in one of those muslim invaded countries. At least, that also what they say on French tv…Did Nostradamus ever predict that a little screen would ever turn out to be the real invader?? Do your mom a favor: crash her tv and buy her a fishtank, an excellent cure against phobias.
June 10th, 2005 at 6:14 pm
Living in australia, you would meet a lot of people coming from a lot of countries..Then u’ll start watching TV about war here, battle there, hunger here, famine there. Next thing you know, you start talking to a person who came from a country you’ve just learned from TV and say “wow..you’re country is dangerous to live in yeah?”
Apparently, any country seems dangerous on TV. I guess we never cherish the good things enough and focus more on the bad things (=higher ratings)..no wonder people fear each other. Someone said, what we don’t know we fear, and what we fear we hate…
June 11th, 2005 at 8:00 am
Well Eli, based on comments you’ve made on prior occasions, I’m guessing your mom just loves you and is the worrying type.
My mom is the same way. One time I was driving solo from Iowa to Arizona. She made me promise to call her every day of the 3-day road trip. I agreed. On the third day, she called me and I didn’t call back right away. There was a sandstorm in the area and my cell didn’t work. So I call her back about 4 hours later, only to discover that the woman was seconds — SECONDS — away from calling the federal authorities to claim that she thought I was kidnaped. Ooooh brother.
Ever since then she has insisted (though I have not acquiesced) that I do road trips with a GPS tracking system. For Christ’s sake. I love her and am thankful that I have such a caring mother, but c’mon now… she worries far too much!
June 11th, 2005 at 8:07 am
Your blog about the TV reminds me of some conversations I’ve had in the past with students…
Student: Black women are welfare queens who are sucking up all our tax dollars!
Teacher: Really? Elaborate on that please.
Student: Well those women are lazy people and they don’t want to work and just keep having babies instead because that’s easier than working?
Teacher: Really? Interesting. How do you know that what you are saying is true? Have you ever had a baby? Do you know any black women on welfare?
Student [who is a male - big surprise]: No, I’ve never had a baby, and no, actually, I don’t know a single black person because I live in Whiteville, Iowa, but I still know that what I’m saying is true.
Teacher: Well where did you get that idea? Who told you that or where did you read this?
Student: …… [insert blank face here]
Teacher [to herself]: That’s what I thought. [to the class]
After a little gingerly prodding, I would always discover that these types of ideas had sort of “seeped” into students minds as a result of the various mediated images that had accumulated in their little heads over the years, which, of course, is what happens to all of us.
It’s a tough process to combat, and we’re all susceptible to it. bell hooks says we’re each responsible for decolonizing our minds, every day.
June 13th, 2005 at 5:40 pm
Your mother was obviously watching “Nostradamus’ top 10 predictions.” Tell her to change the channel. But whatever you do, don’t blame television. You’re shooting the messenger. I mean, uh, just please don’t blame television. It’s done only great things for me.