Saturday, May 9, 2009

Pardon Me!



Are you a prude? Come on now...'fess up. I don't consider myself a prude. I can always get the Book Babes to blush, change subjects, call TMI. I admit it, it's kind of fun. They are so lady like sometimes, but every once in a while they are good for a zinger. Those lady like types can surprise you.

Teddy Bear and Killdozer were watching some wretched MTV show the other day. I sat down to join them for a minute. (Work is killing me lately.) The show was so insipid I could feel brain cells dying or turning into mush according to Hulu and Alec Baldwin. The American version of this commercial came on and I guess I must have made a face. Teddy Bear got on her teenage soapbox and asked me what was so wrong about the commercial.

I have to laugh. Kids are always saying that we adults never understand, we never listen to the whole story and all the extenuating information. Okay, if there is one thing I have learned from living with young adults is to bite my tongue and listen as much as possible. Some of the most clean cut kids I have met are not just naughty kids (heck, who wasn't naughty?) but are actually not nice people. I am so naive, I always assumed if a kid does well in school, is polite, respects authority, makes my kid call about where they are (ha!), they were honest and good people. Don't misunderstand me, some of them truly are wonderful but that's my point. I had to learn to stop prejudging them as much as I could. Some of the most interesting kids also look the most interesting. None of them are angels but most of them are not devils either and I have had some of the best conversations with those young adults as exasperating as they can be.

I explained that it was not the commercial per se that got me to make my face. But how do you explain to someone how different things were for you when you were their age without sounding like some damn old geezer? Jiminy, couples slept in separate beds in sitcoms when I grew up, moms wore dresses and pearls, sex was not a subject that came up too often. So, yes, it still gets me sometimes when I see condom commercials or K-Y jelly used to enhance sex or razors used to shave your hoo hoo into cute shapes. I keep trying to picture Mary Ann and Ginger on Gilligan's Island discussing this. Coconut or pineapple shape? A cute little heart?

Ah, me. So exactly what time does Tila Tequila come on?



5 comments:

Jeanne said...

It has to be asked - what's the difference between being modest and prude? It's a good question!!! I think a lot of people are influenced by how they were raised.

namaste said...

excellent point you make about the teenagers. no matter how polite or how good their grades, they ALL have their naughty side. the interesting things is you can't convince their parents of that. most parents think their kids are such angels. haha!

my daughters watch those awful mtv shows too. ugh! i miss the kind of television we grew up with. those were such simpler times.

lol! @ the video. too funny.

Happy Hour...Somewhere said...

Jeanne--As always a great question. I have been sitting here thinking about this. My first thoughts on this was to think of it as a scale. Super prude being a one, the kind of lady who retires her hoo hoo as soon as possible because, you know, that stuff is kind of ookie and for heaven's sake you never talk about it to Super skank at number ten, the female whose hoo hoo is Grand Central Station and never knows when not to talk about something.

I guess I think of the difference as knowing when to discuss certain subjects and when it is not. With some good friends in an open conversation, I feel that almost everything can be discussed without sacrificing modesty. If I were sitting around with some good girlfriends and a conversation came up say about condom commercials on TV and they got their panties in a bunch, I would say they were a prude. Come on, I think the above commercial was worth at least a giggle, even if only to yourself~!

Now, dang, I may have to do a post just on this subject~!

Namaste--You so reminded me of one of things that drove me nuts during my girls' high school years...parents in denial. The ones who would tell me how good their kids were, how dedicated, blah, blah. My youngest has been fairly open with me and she would come home and tell me stories that would curl my hair about some of these "good" kids. But what really got me is how they would look down at my kid because she followed a different path. As I said, no kid is a perfect angel and my Teddy Bear tells me things she did in high school now that I wish I could retroactively ground her for, but I tried not to be a totally oblivious and self-righteous parent.

What I find amusing is if you ask these young adults if they will let their kids do some of the things they do now,and they say heck no! ha, ha. Delusions of control starts at a young age I guess~!

Anonymous said...

They have a commercial about yeee haawwww shaving shapes stuff?
I missed that one!

Jeanne said...

Good differentiation. I am definitely not a prude. And it's funny, but if I think about it I'm definitely more reserved about some stuff than I was in my 20's. Hmmmm...ya got me thinking...