Sunday, May 11, 2008

Silly Sunday or where have all the mothers gone?

This being my first Mother's day without having a mother, I tend to notice all the hoopla from the people selling things, from flowers to Caribbean cruises, with a bit of sadness. Of course being a language snob and a grammatical elitist, at least in America where using the language at above the Kindergarten level is like carrying Chairman Mao's little red book, I'm disgusted with the metamorphosis of Mother's Day into "Mom's Day."

"I always wanted to be a Mom" reads today's local newspaper headline. The respect implied by being someone's mother would be too much for down-to-earth, anti-adult Americans. Maybe we should stop saying Mother of God or Mother Theresa or God forbid, Mother Miles and change them all to "Moms."

Isn't it bad enough that we wear backwards caps like the Little Rascals; do we have to talk like toddlers? Grow up.

And while we're on the subject, why the hell not a Grandparent's day? Particularly when the grown children are still being subsidized by said ancestors? Just don't call it Gramps' day or Granny's day. Why? Because I'm a pistol packin' Grandpa and I don't like it, that's why.

*All the above is null and void if you actually are my grandson, of course. In that case you can do no wrong.

2 comments:

billie said...

i understand the sentiment of days honoring parents- but i don't think it's needed. seriously. the day has evolved into a reason to spend money. if you are a parent, you chose to be. you and your partner took the responsibility and hey, while i understand it's a daunting task- so is fighting fires. parents should love and respect their children daily and vice versa. we already have special days for special people- they are called birthdays.

Capt. Fogg said...

Everything has evolved into a reason to spend money - even the old counter-culture that was supposed to be a reaction to it.

We're not citizens or even people - we're consumers.