as the product of ethnic parents, i always figured i was in the minority -- as far as shoelace tying goes.
it started in preschool when we were learning about self-reliance. the rest of the kids knew all about the complex 'bunny goes around the tree' method. they even practiced along with a little story about some bunny who takes a trip or something. no matter how i tried, i just couldn't get their way to work. i blamed my mother for not knowing the story. eventually i settled for her preferred method, the 'two bunny ears,' which requires a bit more ambidexterity, but didn't have much of a story save for the 'these loops are like bunny ears.' i felt gypped.
but this weekend i learned that many people practice the 'ears' method. (at least six) and not one out of 18 adults surveyed could remember the bunny-goes-around-the-tree story. that made me feel a little better. and besides, i do not recall even one time when my shoelaces got stuck in the Sit'n Spin because they came untied.
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I had a similar memory, but it doesn't necessarily deal with american culture... although I don't know if the asian culture is less about "learn it somehow, without me explicitly showing you"
instead of laces, i felt jipped that my mexican neighbor's mother had to teach me how to braid. where was my mother for this? mom says to me... you should learn on your own! too bad this is the same attitude for cooking as well. it's like pulling teeth when it comes to her recipes.
"just watch" she says as if that is all that is required in learning culinary art.
which reminds me of another story of a japanese iron chef type who supposedly studied with another iron chef who did not allow him to even touch the food for a year during his years of instruction.
Just give me the spoon and let me stir already!!!
without even mentioning the shoe lace "song", i'd like to coment on the actual WAY the americans tie their shoes... fist of all it is NOT the way they teach it in europe. I dont think i know how to do it the "american way" ???
forget the song....
my mom pulls that crap, too, kaiya.
'so how much hot pepper do you put in it?'
'just a little bit. like a pinch or something. till it looks good. this is why you don't know anything; you never stand here and watch me.'
'mom, there's way too much tv to be watched for me to just stand here and not touch anything.'
'get out of my kitchen, then.'
so ale, is the bunny ears method the european way?
dude i can't even get a name out of the woman when it comes to dishes at a restaurant.
so what is this called?
ummm..... beef and vegetables?
mom, what is it really called?
like vegetables and a beef...
Uh... nevermind.
Um, I failed so miserably at shoe tying that my family gave up on me entirely (my parents just cried a lot from what I remember, and they kept sobbing, “My son is an idiot, my son is an idiot…” over and over to themselves. It wasn’t until several years later that I understood why they were crying). I was all Velcro until maybe the fifth grade… then I some how magically picked it up and I’ve been tying ever since. I guess I’m a little slow on the uptake sometimes…I remember when I found out there was no Santa Clause either… yup, that made last year pretty rough…(ok, that wasn’t very funny, the Velcro thing is true though, and that should make a lot of people sad)
you know what's coming back? roos! the shoes with the pockets! remember when we used to put a quarter in them so we'd have money for the pay phone? ah,when payphones only cost a quarter. ah, when there still were payphones. now people probably keep their condoms in them.
I remember being obsessed with having pockets in my shoes… even though you could only fit a quarter in there, and from what I recall, it was a pain in the ass to get it out… I used to shove all kinds of stuff in there I couldn’t get out… loose change… notes… dice… garbage pale kids cards (in retrospect, shoving those in there was a bad idea, they didn’t preserve as well as I would have liked)… I often wished that little pocket had the physical properties of the Tardis (and if anyone gets this reference, I’m not sure if I’ll be impressed or terrified)
I also have a similar memory...it was in college that I realized that I did not know how to tie my shoes! One day, I bent down to tie them (as they were always untied) and my psycho boyfriend looked at me in disbelief! He asked me where I had learned to tie my shoes and I could not tell him b/c I had no idea. He said I was doing it all wrong! I didn't even know there was a right way! I somehow had managed to figure out my own way of tying shoes by adopting little parts of the 'normal' way and the two bunny ears way. I was a mess. So he bent down and tied my shoes for me...and continued to do so until the very bad break up. I have yet to find another guy who will tie my shoes :(
So, of course the next time I went home I accused my mother of not showing me the 'proper' way of tying shoes and letting her know how embarrassed I was. She responded with, "Blame your father." which I would, but he hasn't been around since the age of 4. Go figure.
that's sexy, your boyfriend tiying your shoes. and why do parents always blame each other!?
hey, i look to you for entertainment and you have failed me! no new messages since 4/13..come on slacker! give it to me baby
yeah!!! we're all going crazy here!!! talking to ourselves!!!!
ha ha ha... so funny! but i totally can relate to this.
Hey are you ok? why haven't you been posting? or is it because you are ok?!@#!!!
awww. i LOVE you guys!
let's just say i've been lazy, and in the last 48 hours, i've had 10 hours of sleep. and don't let your imaginations run wild, nothing life-altering happened. but TALK ABOUT PRESSURE! i hope you guys love the salon as much as i do.
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