I've got you pegged

Something I really like about my father is that he rarely wears the rose-tinted spectacles of the nostalgic immigrant.  (You know, In the old country this would never happen; America is not fit to wipe the poop from France’s shoes, etc.) 

I like to think he is fair and judicious on both countries weaker points.  Able to see where the faults lie.  Never playing favorites.  Like Judge Judy minus the cantankerous shtick.

Maybe this is because I tend to be simpatico with his rulings. 

Which brings me to the day of my parent's arrival. 

The scene:  Their hotel in the 5th arrondissement.  When my mother and I wedged out of the little metal lift onto their floor, exhausted from lugging suitcases, anxious to wash our hands and collapse on the bed, what we saw was not the haven of a clean hotel room.  We saw a naked mattress, garbage littered around the room, dirty ashtrays, and no maid in sight.  Kind of like my apartment if you were to pop by last Sunday morning.

At that moment, my father appeared on the stairs, took one look at the abandoned maid’s trolley and mess of a room and said, “Did the maid go on a protest?"

I giggled under my breath and said, “Welcome to France!”

And then the three of us laughed.  There may have been a snort involved.   

And then we went downstairs to learn that the front desk had given my parents the wrong key.  That wasn’t their room at all. 

All this to say:  Maybe my Dad’s not like Judge Judy.  (And thank goodness.  Lady drives me crazy.)  Maybe my Dad looks at France and America more like two children that he loves equally.  He just happens to see America a little more often.  France is the away at boarding school.  Possibly in England.

It reminds me of something that happened later in the trip, when I was accused of losing a DVD documentary, my sister’s DVD, my sister who was about to return to the US and wanted it.  We ransacked my apartment, my parents tsk-ing at my alleged disorganization.  Even I was sure I’d lost it.  (Look at the chocolate stains on my sweater!  Have you seen what’s under my bed?  It all adds up!)

I promised my sister if the DVD didn’t surface in a week, I’d buy her a new one.  And then it bobbed up the next day.  In my mother’s suitcase, nestled with her dirty socks. 

So there you have it, France.  You, I, and the good people of Court TV know about objectivity issues with family--they know you too damn well.  Fair or not, they’ve got you pegged.

Yours,

The Fourmont Family Member Who Loses Things (even though it was mostly just this phase I had in junior high school). 

Comments

[Terri]

As I posted the other day, I just re-found your blog and am enjoying it SO much.
Glad to see you were exonerated for the missing DVD. I chuckled when I read that Mom was the culprit. Loved your analogy of France and America being two equally loved children.

[Scarlet]

I get it all the time from my family members about not being organized even though I swear I am!

[jane]

tu as soulevé le principal problème de notre famille!!
Mon père ne peut pas passer une journée sans héler ma mère en disant "Chérie!! où sont les papiers pour la réunion de ce soir?"
mon frère n'en parlons même pas!
on est pas désorganisés dans la famille c'est juste qu'on se souviens pas le lieu sûr où on a posé les choses!!

[maha]

My mother does the same thing, only it's a little worse. It usually goes a little something like:

1. She breaks something.
2. She throws it away.
3. A month later she goes 'hunting' for it.
4. Doesn't find it.
5. Accuses me of losing it.

If I told you how I finally discovered this pattern, you'd cry like you just lost your favourite bauble.

xo
m

[shannon]

very funny story! i am the girl who loses her keys everyday, when all the while they are sitting on the kitchen table or in my bag, in their rightful place.

my family has me pegged too!

[ering]

ugh! i know how you feel! i have those lovely little beepers on EVERYTHING!! and people look at me crazy when they see my key chain!

[Flighty]

Well here's what you have to remember, readers. Coquette's daddy is hot!! (look at earlier posts on his rebellious student days)

[Just Dazzle]

It's refreshing to see your Dad has such objectivity on his two "homelands". I think all expats/immigrants have the tendency to descend into “adopted-country bashing”--I've caught myself doing it more than a few times (am Canadian living in Amsterdamm)! I've realized it’s harder to take the high road and appreciate the differences of a new country for what they are; simply different but necessarily better or worse.

[Dagny]

Glad to hear that I am not the only one who misplaces things. It drives my mother nuts. I have learned to always put the important things, like keys, in the same place so I no longer have to do the frantic search every morning.