‘I’ve been sitting here
‘reflecting’ when I should actually have been writing. After
reading columns in ‘Sideswipe’ from Mums begging their offspring not to outdo
each other by going overboard, I realised Mothers were doing it too –
‘reflecting’ that is - on what they didn’t
want. What they failed to appreciate was that Mothers Day simply
keeps the retail world revolving happily for another year.
So if
you are a Mum what did your heart desire – and did you get it? Was
that mini chain saw from the DIY store (professionally giftwrapped of course)
really a delightful surprise, or would you rather your children offered a few
hours of their precious time to front up, armed with the necessary equipment to
demolish the triffids that threaten to engulf you every time you step outside
your back door?
Florists had a field day operating Eftpos machines
between artistically arranging expensive white orchids amongst twisted willow
twigs. Lovely, of course, but would not a bunch of flowers from
your daughter’s garden have pleased you even more?
Did you enjoy
being squeezed into a packed restaurant because your suggestion of a
home-cooked meal (which you didn’t have to prepare or clear up afterwards) went
down like a lead balloon?
Did you wonder as you opened that Gift
Voucher what fate and the family had dreamed up? You may find
you’ll be bungy jumping off the Skytower (meaning they think it’s time you did
something daring) – taking up the offer of a season’s ticket to the local gym
(meaning your bulges are bulging) – or having a complete facial makeover
(meaning you’re definitely on the slippery downward slope when it comes to
dealing with wrinkle control).
Good old Greetings Card
manufacturers – they’re the ones joyously counting their profits and I have
some advice which may please them no end for not everyone is a
Mother. Consider their increased revenue if there should, in addition to
‘Mothers Day’ and ‘Fathers Day’ be an ‘Others Day’.
OTHERS DAY
There’s Fathers Day and
Mothers Day, two days we celebrate
So why not have an ‘Others
Day’ for those who didn’t mate?
There’s lots of ‘Others’ out
there who don’t quite fit the bill
Some of them decided on the
contraceptive pill
If you should venture out
this day at cafes you would find
A host of other ‘Others’ of a
very different kind
There’s spinsters and
bachelors, homosexuals and queens
With not a sign of noisy kids
from babes up to their teens
Some of these other ‘Others’
only have a niece
They chose a same sex partner
to find their inner peace
Though we may be a very
strange and heterogeneous mixture
I’d like to see an ‘Others
Day’ become a yearly fixture.
Barbara Algie
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