November 7, 2005
Lauren told me this story over dinner tonight. It's awful, and what's maybe worse is that I think I am going to make use if it in my writing project, because I bet it's typical.
A friend of hers has a 5 year old son. Since he was wee he's been a big fan of Barbies. No interest in Tonka Toys or any of the typical 5 year old boy things
That's all well and good, and mom supports her son in all his interests and pursuits. What's a problem is that even before he's gone to his first day at school, he knows what he does is odd.
When they go to a big box toy store for his birthday, and mom says pick out whatever you want he heads immediately over to the shell pink Barbie aisle. But if there's anyone else in sight, he scrapes his sneaker slowly across the floor and mumbles at the tiles; "Hey wouldn't that one be good for 'my sister'."
He doesn't have sister. And he's only 5 years old.
After two weeks at pre-k he comes home one day and says to his mother. "I told a lie today, but I think it was a good thing."
His mother (because she's pretty cool) says; "I don't know sweetie, lies aren't usually so good, why don't you tell me what happened?"
"The teacher asked us to paint a picture of our favorite toys and I didn't paint my dolls I painted a picture of a truck. I told a lie, but I think it was a good thing."
I was going to add some depressing post-script but I don't think I need too.
***
...and in completely un-related news, and too add a little bit of a nice closer to this post. And I guess also to inaugerate the bajillionth category QUEERS...
I was lying in bed last night thinking about how who we ought to date is sometimes completely at odds with who we want to date. I began to think about my history of predelictions and whether I had any ought to/want to patterns.
And then I remembered for no reason that I can put my finger on, my grade 11 english teacher Marni. I was at an alternative high school (high school #3) when I took her course, and wildly in love with my first real boyfriend Josh. Who I treated like dirt. (Sorry Josh - those were bad times). I was also wildly in love with hallucinogens and grunge music, as was Josh. I think that gives it some context- grunge kids Toronto circa 1994/1995. If you were there you should be able to smell it. (Fighting compulsion to obsessively list shows I went to.....)
Marni turned her English class into one on humour writing. We practiced writing funny stories and then read them aloud to each other. When Sachas bong accidentally fell out of his knapsack and rolled across the classroom, she made him put it back in his bag and than write a story about it, and then she sent him to the office.
It's probably telling that a fair majority of the class spent their off-hours listening to Therapy? and rolling joints in the alley. We hadn't figured out humour as a way out of angst yet, and I think Marni was trying to draw us a map.
She was young probably a little older than I am now, with a big red mouth and long curly black hair. Her eyes were shiny and black. She laughed too loud and she was probably like me, a big ole Jew. Hint: it was in Marnis class that I saw my first Ellen de Generes stand-up video. Way before her tv show.
Anyways, what am I talking about? I guess I am talking about the realization 11 years after the fact that I had a big fat crush on Marni and it kinda makes me smile a little. It's silly I don't know why I am trying to make it into story.
She had the nicest smile ever.
Continued from main page..