monique

Short Entry

I brought up the topic of 1972 and Nixon and Kissinger and
Vietnam with John yesterday and it irritated him. "He was a
politician." he said. "What do you expect?" I pointed to
part of the story I hadn't shown him -- 'Nixon reportedly
denied until his death in 1994 that the 1972 election
affected his policies in Vietnam'. "So he was a liar."
John said. "I repeat again, he was a politician." Yes,
well.... politicians have no problems treating the voters as
stupid morons who can't see right through them, do they?
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I reminded John that his Dad, who's 84, is scheduled for
knee replacement surgery on Wednesday and he seemed
surprised. He asked me when I'd heard that and I told him
he'd been with me. It was a few weeks ago, on our last
visit there. "I guess I wasn't paying attention." he said.
I suppose not. The problem is that his mother can't stop
talking so anything important can easily be lost in her
non-stop chatter about problems she's having with their
tenants or the antics of their cat or gossip about people
John knew years ago and barely remembers (people I've never
met and have no interest in ever meeting) or about his
sister, who he (thankfully) hasn't seen or heard from in
almost two years as he absolutely can't stand her. The
result is that he just stops listening to his mother all
together. I've learned to filter what she says, a habit I
learned from years in classrooms with teachers who would
blather on and on about something I already knew. I'd tune
them out yet still remain aware enough to catch anything
important they might throw out. It's a skill that's served
me well over the years.
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In the last few days the flowers and garden have been
parched with the heat we've been having so I've spent quite
a bit of time outside in the mornings watering and weeding
and watering some more. I forget how much I hate to be
inside all winter so I'm going to take advantage of the
summer as much as possible before the rains set in again.
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