The Pony and I don't always see eye-to-eye on certain issues. I try to tiptoe on eggshells to appease him, lest I send him whimpering in search of a crying closet, as his generation is wont to use for self-soothal. The Pony likes to spout shallow beliefs from internet headlines. I wouldn't mind a calm discussion, ending to agree to disagree. But The Pony flies off the handle, kicks up his heels, and gallops into the sunset to the sanctuary of his room, probably bitter that our doors are too light to slam satisfactorily. At least I get more of a discussion from The Pony than from Genius, who just announces abruptly, "I'm done!" and walks off. Or hangs up.
Anyhoo... I don't have a point to prove to The Pony. He just needs to learn how to look at both sides of an issue, and then take his stand, rather than rallying around a talking point, and rabidly defending it without letting someone else speak their mind. He's making a little progress.
Thursday, I was getting my lunch ready as The Pony hovered around the cutting block after scratching the scratcher I wanted, winning $20. (It's the new OLD ticket, only found at the Gas Station Chicken Store, and I won't buy two in a row off the roll.) Somehow we got on the subject of last week's Presidential debate. Farmer H had started the whole thing, by saying he saw a picture on his phone that one of the debaters had a wire coming out his sleeve.
At the time, Farmer H declared that it stuck out past the end of his hand.
"No way. That had to be photoshopped! I saw a picture of it. You have to look close to see it."
"I saw it for myself, HM! On my phone!"
"That was probably the ink pen. He switched it from one hand to the other. I saw the picture. This was his left hand. Just a little bit stuck out. Barely out of his shirt sleeve. About to the heel of his hand."
Farmer H agreed to disagree with me. He believed his own eyes, based on the picture he saw on his phone. The Pony sided with me, that Farmer H was delusional. Nobody got too wound up about it.
Anyhoo... I guess The Pony did some research (baby steps, people, baby steps) before bringing it up to me in the kitchen.
"Mom. That wire you and Dad were talking about? It was a rosary! He wears it in memory of his son that died."
Let the record show that The Pony wouldn't know a rosary if it bit him on his rounded rumpus. Which I'm pretty sure a rosary wouldn't do, because that does not seem very rosary-like, now does it? I know next to nothing about a rosary myself. But what I DO (think I) know does not fit in with what I saw poking out of the sleeve. I'm pretty sure a rosary has a dangly part. For counting.
"He was raising his hand to his face. His shirt cuff was facing the ceiling. The end of that 'rosary' defied physics! It was sticking straight up, out of his shirt sleeve!"
"See? It was a MIRACLE!"
Heh, heh. Good one. Every now and then, The Pony zings one in there.
Well, you have the next 30 or 40 years to get The Pony to become more open to discussions, since you've made such a cushy place for him to live, he's never gonna leave home!
ReplyDeleteI will confess that I did not look that close when I watched the debate. I was more in listening mode than watching. I don't put much faith in photos that show up on social media, too easy to photo shop. I used to have a friend from long ago. She will not speak to me anymore. She was telling me that Michelle Obama was a man and I laughed. I told her I would need to see the man parts before I believe that and all that aside what does that have to do with what is happening currently. The moral to my story is that politics is not a good subject for friends with differing opinions.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been a miracle, but I don't think too many of those happen these days.
ReplyDeleteI'm an egg-shell tippy-toer too, never learned how to discuss or debate or argue. I'm totally clueless.
Sioux,
ReplyDeleteHUSH! As The Pony says to me, when I state a pure fact.
He had a phone interview on Friday. Will hear something back this week. I'm sure there were a lot of applicants, but getting an interview is the first step. It's in California, and involves the rocky abrasive stuff on roofing shingles. They also have a factory in Annapolis, MO, but the job opening is in California.
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Kathy,
I saw the ink pen bandied about, but did not see the short "rosary" tip in real time. I don't think, whatever it was, that it provided any advantage. I don't think rosaries are worn a commemorative bracelets (as The Pony seems to think), and I know it wasn't the size Farmer H was describing.
As for the "man parts," heh, heh, I've seen them on the innernets! Are you kidding? What conspiracy aficionado would not have seen them? Anyhoo... it's in clothing, so there's always the wrinkle quotient to factor in. Just like "A chicken in every pot," there's a conspiracy for every crackpot. Not that I'm calling all conspiracy theorists crackpots, by cracky! But you can find something to support just about anything on the innernets. That's where you have to weigh your "evidence" and pick a side. That's my goal for The Pony, to at least check out both sides to prepare his arguments, and not stomp off in a huff.
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River,
I think the last "miracles" I read about were statues weeping blood or other fluids. As I recall, there are special teams who go check them out, to see if they can officially be classified as miracles. That would be an interesting job.