Thursday, August 10, 2006

Not Always Monosyllabic

I had a chuckle this morning. I was looking for a Word document I had created several years ago, and came across a file called 'ZAP Speech-My Parents.' It was a speech my son had written last year for a school project. I guess I had been asked to print the speech on file cards for him, and had left a copy on my hard drive.

A couple of posts ago, I printed out an MSN chat between my son and me, with his part of the dialogue essential monosyllabic. He isn't always that way. When he is passionate about something, he knows how to present his wishes/viewpoints/frustrations articulately and eloquently. I was tickled by what he wrote about me in the speech:

"I’ll start with my Dad. My Dad is an independent thinker, an idealist if you will. He has his own opinions on everything and likes to work and think alone. My Dad also hates being told what to do, so it’s a good thing that he owns his own businesses. Now, what I like most about my Dad’s personality is that he doesn’t care about what other people think of him. He does things his way! My dad is also very generous and caring and he is always willing to help somebody. Often, that’s me."

Now, even if his perceptions might be a bit skewed and he might have been trying to pump up his old dad with hyperbole to gain some sort of favour, how could I not enjoy his assessment of me? I'm flattered.

Know what amuses me even more than what he said? The fact that many people would read a description like this and think about the person so identified as antisocial, misanthropic, curmudgeonly and... oh yeah, atavistic.

Hmmm.

At least he thinks I am a generous atavist.

Thanks, son.

4 comments:

  1. Okay, here's where I'm like you:
    "He has his own opinions on everything and likes to work and think alone. My Dad also hates being told what to do..."

    Here's where I'm not:
    "Now, what I like most about my Dad’s personality is that he doesn’t care about what other people think of him."

    That's the part I'm wanting to improve.

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  2. I like this line the best: My dad is also very generous and caring and he is always willing to help somebody. Often, that’s me."

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  3. Bellezza: I discovered as a child that doing what was right was more important than doing what everyone thought was right. The two are not necessarily the same. At times, it was not easy to live with that point of view, especially as a teenager.

    From my parents I learned that it is more important to be respected than liked. They were both respected and liked and that is the best possible situation.

    Penny: Yeah, that line tickles my funny bone. At least he recogizes that help from a parent is not all obligation but at least partly goodwill and generosity.

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  4. I've always had strong and clear convictions of what is right, and this is how I choose to live. But sometimes it's so lonely.

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