August 26, 2008
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I wonder how typical it is to rebel against what you were raised “in.”
For example, my mother and her mother are uber Catholic and I’m a “fallen” one (see Kathy Griffin’s stand-up for more info on that term); I disgree with them on homosexuality and abortion, among other things (women as priests, etc.). My grandparents will surely eliminate me from their wills based on that sentence alone, but I stick to my guns just like… the military peeps in my family. Mainly on my mother’s side. Practically every male has been smacked with the military gene, bug, what-have-you… and due to that, they use the military as a reason to hate the French and vote Republican, in a nutshell. Oddly, I have no issue with those who go into the military, but I find myself often on the other side of their arguments (not everyone, but most of ‘em). Don’t know if I’m rebelling or just not in their frame of mind. I’ve never looked death in the face, so I guess I’m just a liberal retard who’ll never fully understand what it means to be patriotic or risk my life for my country. Whoa – that was a strong bunch of sarcasm, wasn’t it? Well, it’s basically how I feel. I probably also feel that way due to being female; military talk is for males only.
Oddly, when it comes to my dad, who was in the army at the time of Vietnam, he doesn’t fit that stereotype. Oh, sure, I don’t vote like he does, nor do I have the same thoughts politically, but he’s different. And maybe that shows that I’ve rebelled more against my mother’s genetics more than his? Who knows.
Essentially, who would’ve thought that I could’ve come from the family that I did? Same goes for my siblings. Almost all of us have voted for Democrats when we could vote. None of us have problems with homosexuality, none of us went into the military, and a small percentage still considers his/herself Catholic. Four oddballs at the bottom of a family tree filled at the top with military and religion. Huh.
Today, Cheryl, Kristi, and I had an intriguing conversation about birth order… it’s a subject I find myself sucked into once in awhile. I found out that the research I’ve read is not similar to all birth order research. I’ve read about the whole “leader-scapegoat-comedian” lineage of how characteristics are delegated. Kristi had read otherwise; something about the oldest taking on the traits of the dominant parent and the second taking the other parent. The third child is the peacemaker since the two oldest fight, and the youngest gets lost in the shuffle. I don’t see that fitting as well with our family since Alisa and I didn’t fight all that much (not as much as she did with my two youngest siblings), and her and I both have characteristics of both parents. Beyond that, I wouldn’t place Robin as the peacekeeper – more like the “mini mom” nickname we gave her long ago, and Jed is the only boy, so he was not lost in the shuffle. He’s very much the entertainer of the family along with Alisa.
Anyhow, all of this is exhausting my already tired-out brain. I should really try to power-down before bedtime so I don’t have dreams of researching (yes, it’s happened). And I just realized I still haven’t fully blogged about the presenters from last week. Damn it.
