My mom is even more of a nutter than I thought.

On the phone today with mom, I said or asked something about Dubya. Don’t remember what; not important anyway. What is important is that she said, “I dunno; every time I see him on TV, I change the channel.”

“You mean, just today?”

“No, not today; I’m not even watching TV today. I mean, any time I see him on TV, since he quote took office unquote, I change the channel.”

God almighty.

Now, this is not about her views or my views or hanging chads or anything. So she doesn’t like him; she’s hardly the only one. But changing the channel, immediately, every single time he’s on TV? She’s a news junkie, so she always has the TV on between six and eight, and has it on CNN, Headline News, Fox News or MSNBC throughout the day. So she must be changing the channel fifty times a day or more, missing out on other news items that might interest her, just to give in to a compulsion. I mean, I shudder, physically, every time I see a photo of bin Laden, but that doesn’t stop me from keeping up on the news. Changing the channel or turning the page isn’t going to make Binny go away (oh, if it only would!). And it’s not going to make Dubya go away either.

This is no longer about a political view; this is pathological. This takes her right back to 1986 when she was collecting Kleenex boxes.

Umm… issues with mommy have we?

Look, a lot of people collected Kleenex boxes in 1986, OK?

Yeah, it’s real smug in hindsight to sit there and go, “huh, you friggin’ dork, with your stupid Kleenex box collection”. But it was huge at the time.

[sub]… collecting Kleenex boxes???[/sub]

Coldfire: I don’t know where she was getting them from, but there were all these empty Kleenex boxes, dozens of them, in the sewing room. Her explanation was that she was going to fill them with generic tissues, so they would “look good” in the living room and parlor.

Okay.

If people are going to judge you on the quality of your tissues, the hell with them. Or if you want your tissues to match the decor, get one of those covers in a compatible color. Or just buy brand-name Kleenex! What’s the price difference—twenty cents? And she never did anything with them. They just kept piling up. By the dozen, as I said. She wouldn’t have needed more than three at the very most.

Finally, I told her, “You know who does this, Ma? Hoarding stuff they don’t need and will never use? Mental patients.” She said nothing. And when I flattened all the boxes and put them out in the trash, she again said nothing. Thank god.

GopherGod: I have issues with her because she has [sub]t[/sub]issues. She also went through a stage where she didn’t want anyone to lower the toilet lids (not seats, lids) because she “didn’t want air to get in the pipes”.

Since “pogs” were considered a hot collectible a few years ago, Kleenex boxes certainly wouldn’t surprise me.

I think I know where your coming from, Rilchiam.

Once I saw my father scratch (with his fingers) a newspaper picture featuring our Prime Minister, John Howard. He tore his newspaper face right off. He also changes the channel when Little Johnnie comes on.

Personally, I think it’s nuts, but hey.

I had a coworker give me a box of Kleenex for a Christmas present once.

I think I know where you’re coming from, Rilchiam.

Once I saw my father scratch (with his fingers) a newspaper picture featuring our Prime Minister, John Howard. He tore the PM’s newspaper face right off. He also changes the channel when Little Johnnie comes on.

Personally, I think it’s nuts, but hey.

elshatan: The funny thing is, a few years prior to this, Kleenex did have a line of collectible boxes. Which she would not let me collect, on the grounds that they would take up too much space. :smack:

Narrad: Hm. Well, how old is your dad? Because my parents are over 70, and Mr. Rilch is telling me this may just be an “elderly person” thing. His own mom saves bread bags.

Also, I may not be above reproach here: I recently defaced a magazine cover that had whatsisname, the Sideshow Bob-looking American Idol guy on it.

Funny thing is, though, mom also said Dubya is creeping her out because he’s “too skinny”. A, how does she know this if she’s not looking at him? B, and Clinton was a tub. SFW?

Hmm. My brother-in-law is like this… he doesn’t like the new Millennium Bridge over the River Tyne, so he won’t look at it. Actually, physically, deliberately closes or averts his eyes whenever he’s in danger of seeing it. And, yes, he does still offer opinions on how it spoils the view of the other bridges, even though he can’t see it, because he’s got his eyes shut.

Perhaps people like this are more common than we think… perhaps this is not a good thing.

For eight years I turned the channel every time Clinton spoke. The guy’s voice just irritated the heck out of me. I didn’t mind news about him but just couldn’t stand to hear him speak.

Isn’t there a story of a writer (can’t remember who right now) who ate lunch in the restaurant in the Eiffel tower every day because it was the only restaurant in Paris that didn’t have a view of the tower, and he hated the sight of it?

My mom and sister are both completely bonkers. I don’t want to talk about any further.

pictures Rilchiam in a monocle and smoking jacket, showing a visitor through an opulent house

…and here we have my Kleenex Collection. Here’s the 1982 Blue Flower Print, an incredibly rare production. And so soft…

I do the same thing as your mom. You want my rationale?

He is so inarticulate on almost any subject that I just get enraged and/or disgusted. I prefer to have his output filtered through his spin doctors, and news casters. I hope his command of English is shaky. I fear his command of logic is.

He’s 60, but has been a nutter for more than a couple years. Precocious, I guess. :slight_smile:

I tend to do the same thing (with GWB on TV, not Kleenex boxes) for the same reasons as yojimboguy. Fortunately, my kid is only 5, so she doesn’t think I’m insane…yet.

I think that the “old people saving up weird things” could be a result of living through the Great Depression. “You never know when you’ll need that” and all that.

All right, I concede that a lot of people would prefer not to see Dubya’s image any more than they have to. But as I said earlier, my mom watches the news the way other women her age watch their “stories”. So she’s disrupting her own favorite pastime.

See, it’s not just that she doesn’t want to hear him speak; I can understand that! But if it’s Jennings or Rather or somebody talking, and GWB is only present as a photo in the background, she’ll still change the channel, regardless of what the subject matter is. So she’s missing out on news items that might interest her, and when I ask, “What do you think about this or that?” she doesn’t know because she flipped away before any non-GWB item came on. She didn’t know about the guy getting turned down for a position at Loyola because he allegedly wasn’t “black enough”, and that may be because her phobia prevented her from staying on one channel long enough.

Tamex: Yeah, I know about the Depression-era hoarding. But this was just another one of her stupid projects that she was never actually going to do, just gather the material so it could take up space. Like the fabric that was supposed to become curtains, but stayed in its bags for five years and was eventually given away. Or the linoleum tiles. Six boxes. Never opened. Stood in the front hallway, in a pillar, from 1975 to 1984. Functioned as a table. Carried with us when we moved, and finally sold at auction in 1987.

I’ve got a TV just like those tiles. The TV blew up about 3 years ago - lovely fireball started in the centre of the screen and moved outwards. Inside its charred to bits but its just the right height to site our new TV on. So we’ve kept it through the last 4 house moves. One day I’ll get a proper cabinet for the new TV but until then our working TV can sit on the broken TV.

And my mom thinks I’m weird because I want to send a favorite toy or worn-but-not-washed bit of clothing along when one of our cats needs to make an overnight trip to the vet- (Just had two of them declawed, the new guy is set for declawing and neutering next week).