December talking meme 13th Dec

[amberdreams]

This one is for : de_nugis
Tell me a characteristic anecdote that you love about either or both of your parents.

I'm not sure this is an anecdote as such, but it's very characteristic of both of my parents. My Mum, who was 80 in November, is a bit of a silver surfer. She loves her iMac, and the internet, and it's been great that she got into computers because it means we can keep in touch both via Facebook and by Skype video calls. So every now and then, Mum will message me on Facebook and then she'll fetch my Dad (her computer is upstairs in a little back bedroom/study) so we can video conference.

They both sit on squeaky computer chairs, often at the edges of the screen because they forget to check that they are both in view, and we chat about stuff. Invariably after a few minutes sitting nicely in his chair, my Dad will lean forward so I get a nice view of the top of his bald head, because he just can't resist being nosy about what Mum's got on her desk. This drives my Mum nuts and she will stop talking to me to shout at him and tell him to STOP FIDDLING! This usually means he'll sit back for a moment, with a guilty giggle, but then a few seconds later he'll have to go back to whatever it was he was trying to read before, because he is a compulsive reader. He really can't help himself.

This is all a huge improvement on the old days when we used to rely on the telephone. They used to have two phones, one upstairs and one downstairs, so when we called each other, they used to have a phone each so they could both talk to me. Except nine times out of ten, something would be said that would trigger a discussion between the two of them about something totally unrelated to our conversation, that had no relevance or interest for me, and would end up in them arguing about it while I was sitting there wondering why they were doing this on the phone with each other when they could do it face to face, as they were both in the same house at the same time...If it wasn't my phone bill I'd sit back and find it funny. When I'd initiated the call I'd have to tell them to knock it off and talk about it later, when I'd got off the phone.

Here I screencapped them after I'd got them to move closer together and they were having a discussion amongst themselves about something. Here you have typically - Mum looking sharp and on the ball, and Dad looking totally puzzled by life. And that is kind of how they are now - for my Dad, everything is surprising and he's in an almost constant state of amiable bemusement. It's kind of cute, and amusing, and makes me and my Mum laugh sometimes.

I just realised that's me in the corner, looking amused, and not a photo on the shelf. LOL! (And now I've got that R.E.M song in my head...)

Comments

[sw0rdy.livejournal.com]

Aww, bless - that's awesome. My parents regularly Skype from exotic locations and my Dad always insists on showing me the view (which is usually just a white screen because the sun's so bright). My sister's father-in-law calls it 'sky-pee', which always makes me laugh. :)

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Sky pee!!! Love it!

[manzanita-crow.livejournal.com]

"Amiable bemusement"

That is roughly 75% of my life. The other 25% is "a bit aggravated" bemusement.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I am going the way of my father, I fear.

[galwithglasses.livejournal.com]

They are adorable. So funny about the arguments over the phones while they are in the same house. They look like they'd be fun to know.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

They are fun, we have a lot of laughs these days in spite of Dad's propensity for falling over and banging his head on things.

[chomaisky.livejournal.com]

This made me smile :) thanks for sharing!

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Well you've kind of met my Mum now - another reason she loves the internet! :D

[chomaisky.livejournal.com]

I'm glad she's enjoying FB ;))))

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

Yep. She told me the other day she'd been looking at old people's homes and there is no way she's going in one that doesn't have free wi fi.

[chomaisky.livejournal.com]

LOL! Benefit of modern technology. My parents only use social network to keep track of me. My mom loves watching Korean soap online and my dad spends hours looking at cars and houses online without the intention/need money to actually purchase one.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I probably should have told the porn story here, shouldn't I? Last time I was home me and Mum were discussing my Dad's limited use of his computer and she said all sotto voce "He watches porn on it, you know. When I catch him watching, I just make a sound disapproving hrumph and walk out"!

[chomaisky.livejournal.com]

Your mom's so cool XD!!!

[fufaraw]

Oh gosh, I love your folks! They're such attractive people--and I love how every bit of the house you can see is lined with bookshelves. And look at you up there, in the corner. You're all adorable.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

I still remember the utter shock of visiting an ex boyfriend's parents house for the first time and finding a house almost completely devoid of books. The horror! How could they live like that? LOL

[de-nugis.livejournal.com]

That's wonderful. I love your mother's expression there, and the little crinkle in your father's forehead.

When I lived with roommates with a common phone line, my father was famous for the amusement value of the messages he left on our voicemail. My roommates saved for months one that consisted of my father's voice, in tones of inexpressible melancholy, saying, "Oh. Lots of static. But no beep," and then, like your father, getting into a conversation with my mother in the background and apparently forgetting that he was leaving a message.

[amberdreams.livejournal.com]

ha ha ha that sounds very familiar! I saved a voice mail from my Dad from ages ago for similar reasons. Not mournful but very funny. He rang and was clearly surprised to get the answerphone not me, so his message consisted of a lot of Oh. Um, Hello, It's Paul. I mean, it's um er me, your Dad.
It went on for about a minute before he got round to remembering why he was ringing in the first place.

[milly-gal.livejournal.com]

Well that was just adorable, Steve is EXACTLY the same as your Papa, he has to know what's on the desk at all times and I end up having to shoo him away from messing with my stuff ;)

[tifaching.livejournal.com]

Your parents are adorable.