Rebellion in the ranks We have two highly competitive national chain video rental outlets just a few minutes walk from our house, “Blockbuster” and “Video Easy.” Unfortunately these have proved to be magnets for our kids over the years, and the stores know it. We have all sorts of incentives arriving with the junk mail in our letterbox urging us to act quickly on the latest deal.
The VHS video tape is almost extinct. DVDs are all the go in Australian households now, more especially as one can buy a disk player for as little as $60.
Membership of the commercial libraries is free, and with the school holidays about to start, Video Easy has come up with what may be the ultimate deal, free rentals for kids. A special card is issued on the spot which entitles them to take out one free DVD a day for the duration of the holiday period, a mind numbing 6 weeks. The only catch is that the titles have to be old releases, and none with adult ratings.
Son number five (15) is our DVD addict, and so he collected his day-card yesterday. Fortunately its only one entitlement per household membership. While he was there the woman pressed a new household “Video Easy”plastic card into his hot little hands and asked him to tell his mum to cut the old one in half.
Back home at the ranch, the message was dutifully passed on so mother acted dutifully and snipped the old card in half. Trouble is that the instant she snipped away she realised she had destroyed the Blockbuster card instead. Duh! This is good, but I don’t suppose it will be too long before a replacement is sought.
Daughter number one, also 15, is going through a rebellious phase. I have temporarily confiscated her bank debit card for two or three days. The mornings are the worst, each one brings a new stream of angry invectives, and unreasonable demands about this or that. This makes everyone irritable. She used to be so nice. Well she is still nice, apart from the alternative outbursts. She knows which buttons to press. We try to keep cool, emotionally. It's tough work. This is where strong marriage partnerships come into play. My wife and I reinforce eachother in such stressful times. Sob! Sob! It must be hard sometimes in single parent households.
The latest demand is that our daughter wants to have her ears pierced. Just out of the blue this morning, on the last day of school. Arrrgh! She says all her friends have had it done. The old story. We have long been opposed to things like body piercing and tattoos. None of our kids have shown any inclination towards such things until now. We are going to stand firm on this one. Apparently plenty of parents are ambivalent. It’s not uncommon to see young children of five or six years old with their ears pierced.
Well gotta go. Its going to be a busy day. Overcast, but not likely to rain.
© MMIV Paul R. Weaver.
About the writerCheck out the index of my "common-man" monologues about survival in 21st century Australia – plus a little history occasionally. An original essay is added most days.
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