It's almost like "children are starving in Afirca".


There are certain family sayings that we grow up with even if we have no way of truly verifying that they were said in ours. Mothers tell their children that they should eat all the food on their plates because of the children in Africa, but I have no recollection whatsoever of my mother actually telling me that. It's simply one of those things that mothers say. (Does that mean that if someone says it that person is a mother?) Not all of these are mother statements, by the way.

One of the best known, perhaps apochryphal, mother statements is that you shouldn't leave the house wearing torn underwear because you might be in an accident and you don't want people to see you laying in the street that way. Once again, however, though I've somehow absorbed this statement into my arsenal of childhood memories, I have no recollection of my mother saying it. The gist of this statement is, of course, that we have to be constantly conscious of the image we project, even to the point of being prepared for unforseeable circumstances. Having undergone extensive childhood training in keeping up our images (and who doesn't have a mother?), brushing up our web personae before we make them public comes rather naturally. I'm at home in the Boidem, but if I'm inviting friends over to visit, I should at least clean up a bit and make a good impression.


Did your mother say these things to you? Can you vouch for their accuracy? Are you familiar with different versions of these same statements? Let me know.
 


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