Here, 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.
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.
Comment by Toby Wollin — March 24, 2008 @ 8:28 am
Brava to the Mrs. Manheim.
Comment by Annalucia — March 24, 2008 @ 9:04 am
Except for the mazeltov, that’s exactly how my parents would have reacted. I’ve never gotten arrested, though.
Comment by Twistie — March 24, 2008 @ 10:55 am
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!!!
Comment by Jennie — March 24, 2008 @ 12:11 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?
Comment by Annalucia — March 24, 2008 @ 3:29 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.
Comment by CanadianChick — March 24, 2008 @ 11:41 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!!!
Comment by Jennie — March 24, 2008 @ 11:49 pm
Sorry, got carried away Annalucia. Never write in anger when red wine is involved even if it was a lovely 2003….
Comment by Jennie — March 25, 2008 @ 12:09 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.
Comment by Twistie — March 25, 2008 @ 11:05 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.
Comment by La Petite Acadienne — March 25, 2008 @ 11:51 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!
Comment by class-factotum — March 27, 2008 @ 11:50 am