I got a nice little guilt trip from my mom last night, consider this a post card. Wish you were here.
Mom called to see if we wanted to come to their place Sunday for Father’s Day dinner. I told her we would love to except that we’re really busy this weekend. And we seriously are. I think this is the first jam packed weekend (aside from the occasional guest) that we’ve had since we moved up here. Tonight we see Built To Spill. Let me repeat that for my own benefit: Tonight I’m seeing Built To Spill! Saturday, our friend Brandi will be in town for a short trip to visit. On Sunday, we see The Mountain Goats. And there’s the possibility of seeing Jenny this weekend as well.
When I told Mom this, and suggested perhaps pushing it to Monday night, I got my ticket. It wasn’t anything she particularly said, no, she’s better than that. The perfect guilt trip is all in the tone. She did however at one point say, “that’s too bad, Kyle’s going to be here.”
Let me put in a quick note about my brother Kyle. I love the guy, I really do. He is a much braver man than I, he is very charming and funny. I have however, had my fair share of favored son issues revolving around Kyle, so using him as a tool against me is not the best way to go.
This whole thing hasn’t bothered me as much as it used to. It is interesting that moving hundreds of miles closer to my mother has not eased up the apparent need to knock me down a little from time to time.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
The women in my family are superb at this, too. I call it stealth-guilt. It can range from a straight-forward application as you illustrated, all the way to the super, reverse-compliment, ultra guilt-grenade 360--where you feel totally at-ease and happy for the entire visit (on phone or in person, although it is usually more effective in person) and then right after they walk out the door it hits hard and knocks you on your ass.
But my grandmother is MUCH better at this than my Mom. Maybe it grows in them like backhair does on the men.
I don't want to knock the ladies or anything, because I certainly know how to throw around my own guilt trips, but woman seem to be experts in this.
It must be in the DNA somewhere, and yeah, probably grows more powerful with age and use.
...like some sort of twisted, alternate-dimension, role-playing game that they all begin in Junior High gym class...
Post a Comment