Family Traditions

[geminigirl]

I left my phone nearby, knowing I'd get a phone call that would go something like this:

"Where is $random country, (usually one in Africa)?"

"In $appropriate geographical area."

"What about $other random country?"

"It's in $appropriate geographical description"

"I've never even heard of most of these places."

"I know that. You say that every time we watch the Olympics, Mom."

"Well I still don't know where these places are. How come you know?"

"Because I had to know where some of these places were back in high school Mom."

"Well Africa wasn't like that when I was in high school."

It's the same conversation we have every two years during the Olympics. And I point that out to her. It's like the conversation we'd have every year during Yom Kippur when we'd recite the Al Chait ("alphabet of sins") and Mom would lean over and say to me "What's Xenophobia?"

As Tevye said..."Tradition!"

Comments

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Growing up, I used to think that any globe or map of Africa needed the countries to be replaceable, like Colorforms. :-)

[iamlisabee.livejournal.com]

Didn't your mom look at the little map they showed as they brought up each new country?

Tell your mom to watch closely next time!

[geminigirl]

There's a good chance that she can't see the detail on the map without glasses on, but that the glasses that would allow her to see the map wouldn't allow her to see the rest of the TV. She really should be wearing progressive lenses or something, but she got such terrible headaches that she ends up switching between three pairs of glasses to do what she needs to do.

Aging isn't pretty I guess.

[cmariewt.livejournal.com]

LOL! This made me laugh so hard!

[aliki.livejournal.com]

Brian and I tried to identify some of the more obscure countries before they showed it on the globe!

[also-huey.livejournal.com]

Watched it in the bar, and played a neat new game called "Name that shithole!"

"What?"
"Uh... ...south pacific island shithole, I think."
"And this one?"
"Sub-saharan african dictatorship shithole"
"And?"
"Breakaway soviet shithole"
"Never heard of THAT-"
"Oh, that's cuz it's a relatively new, ethnically-cleansed baltic shithole"

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

I sense the need for an atlas...