Words of Camryn Manheim: Chip off the old block
By FrancescaHere, for your amusement, is Francesca’s absolute favorite excerpt from Wake Up, I’m Fat!:
Protesting injustice is a way of life in my family. One summer in Santa Cruz I was arrested and thrown in jail for participating in a pro-choice rally. So I called my parents to get me out.
CAM: Mom, Mom, I’m in jail.
MOM: You’re what?
CAM: I’m in jail, Mom.
MOM: Oh my God, what for?
CAM: Mom, I was arrested for participating in a pro-choice rally.
MOM: Oh, honey, that’s wonderful. Mazeltov! Jerry, Camryn got arrested for civil disobedience.
DAD: That’s great, honey, Go Go Go! Fight fight fight.
MOM: Stop it, Jerry. It’s long distance prime time, for God’s sake.
CAM: (screaming) Mom? Get me out of jail!
MOM: No, honey, you stay in there and make your point.
Click.
March 24th, 2008 at 8:28 am
It’s a good thing I had put my coffee down before I read that. Hilarious. Nothing like having parents who support you..even if it means you have to cool your heels in jail.
March 24th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Brava to the Mrs. Manheim.
March 24th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Except for the mazeltov, that’s exactly how my parents would have reacted. I’ve never gotten arrested, though.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
The last pro choice rally I was in, my father, the uber catholic, was on the other side praying on his knees for his wayward daughter that’s going straight to hell. Wouldn’t it have been fun to have support for my liberal actions!!!
March 24th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
“Wouldn’t it have been fun to have support for my liberal actions!!!”
No doubt, but surely the Jennie would not deny her father his right to express his own deeply held convictions?
March 24th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
I love it, and yes, except for the Mazel Tov, my parents might well have done the same thing…
I remember their quiet displeasure when I was brainwashed into participating in an anti-choice rally when I was a kid (people from my church)…they let me do it, but they were NOT happy about it…and were very glad when I got my brain back from the cleaners.
March 24th, 2008 at 11:49 pm
No, he has the right of expression but not of condemnation. His deeply held convictions included abuse (yes, that kind), infidelity, and presenting a lovely front to all. He is excessively kind and helpful to everyone except his family. His “deeply held convictions” are probably why I am what I am, rebellious, overly analytical about people’s motives, and too far to the left politically with the exception of the punishment that should be meted out to abusers of ones weaker than they are whether child, wife, or pet, and very dubious of the beneficience of an all powerful male deity. Express on Dad!!!
March 25th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Sorry, got carried away Annalucia. Never write in anger when red wine is involved even if it was a lovely 2003….
March 25th, 2008 at 11:05 am
I think the important lesson here is not which side of the issue one should be on, but that standing up for one’s beliefs is good, and taking responsibility for those choices is a major part of civil disobediance.
March 25th, 2008 at 11:51 am
Well-said. I strongly support peaceful protest, even if I don’t agree with the message being expressed. Everybody has a right to the conviction of their beliefs, but as the old saying goes, your right to swing your fist ends, at the point where my nose begins.
March 27th, 2008 at 11:50 am
Your right to express your beliefs also ends where my car begins, if your protest parade is blocking the road! Protest all you want, but don’t inconvenience me or anyone else!