Monday, Mar. 03, 2003 - 8:23 a.m.
As always, the trip to visit the 'rents was eventful. Perhaps I should outline the fun parts before I get to the horribly depressing part (I am all about the lists these days):
1. I learned one very valuable lesson on Friday night. DO NOT, under any circumstances, get drunk with your parents unless they are also under the influence. Mom bought me three huge-ass margaritas when she took me out to dinner. Thus, by the time we left the restaurant I was in quite a state.
2. It is so 100 percent to make your mom take you to Wal-Mart to buy socks and underwear when you are under the influence of tequila.
3. It is also very 100 percent to call your best friend to tell her you are drunk with your mom. Never mind said friend was in the company of her parents and grandparents when you were screaming into the phone at her.
4. As God, Allah, and Kenneth Cole as my witnesses, I shall never do that again.
5. Saturday brought the trip to Garden Ridge. All I can say is there are much better ways to spend an early afternoon than wandering around the silk flower section for two hours.
6. Mom somehow thinks I know a thing or two about flower arrangement. I proved her horribly wrong while at the store, as I apparently have no taste when it comes to fake greenery. That hurts, really, it does.
7. Kellie gave me the cell phone love while I was there, which was much appreciated!
8. Saturday evening was Dad's birthday dinner at my favorite Chinese buffet. More about this trip at the end of the list.
9. The 'rents' new living room is quite a showplace! Mom did, however buy the world's largest coffee table. It's almost the same size as my dining room table. A bit ostentatious, if you ask me.
10. A midnight-to-3am trip to Steak and Shake and Wal-Mart with Kellie is exactly what I needed to de-stress (again, more about this in a minute). Only she can understand how therapeutic it is for me to spend a half hour digging through the $5.88 DVD bin.
So, yeah, that's the fun part of the story of the weekend. As alluded to earlier, the trip for dinner for Dad's b-day (he will be a half century old tomorrow) was not too pleasant for me.
We ran into my fourth grade teacher, who was one of my favorites. This wouldn't normally be out of the ordinary, as I usually end up running into people from my past whenever I go home. This is especially true for former teachers, school administrators, etc., since Mom has been working in the school system since the late '80s and has maintained contact with a lot of them.
What was out of the ordinary was that my fourth grade teacher was at the buffet with his boyfriend. It was never a secret that the man is gay, he was open about it even when I was in his class. Mom had always liked him, and even worked as his teacher's aide for a couple of years.
So, imagine how I was surprised to return to the table from the buffet to hear Mom saying some disparaging remarks about my teacher and his partner. For the life of me, I can't recall what she exactly said, as I went numb for a few minutes until my intense feelings of rage and pain subsided.
If there is one personality trait I wish I could change, that is definitely the one. If I'm ever really offended or upset at something, I just completely shut down and block out everything around me rather than dealing with it. I end up in that state frequently when the racist uncle is around; I just never thought my mother would bring out that side of me.
I wish I could have tore into her right then. I wish I could have told her how insensitive she was. I wish I could have told her that at that exact moment one week prior, I was sitting at a similar Chinese buffet in the company of my boyfriend. Instead, I just sat there idly picking at my food with chopsticks.
I will grow a spine someday, I promise.
P.S., Thanks for this, Josh.
