[lit-ideas] Re: To whom it may concern
- From: Donal McEvoy <donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2014 23:12:38 +0100 (BST)
Though Rudy (age 3) has not yet reached the stage where he will be tempted to
take his ball and go home, some aspects of Rudy's young life may help Chris in
his recovery:-
(1) Though tired having completed a 10 piece jigsaw, Rudy
considers the case of Pilcher as carefully
as would any other 3 year old faced with an adult who simply will not let the
issues go. Rudy is not much impressed by the idea the Pilcher result owes to
“constitutional law”, a view he finds
baffling, but nor is he taken with the idea the result owes to a fair
allocation of risk or fraud-prevention, which he squints to indicate is too
complicated for his liking. His final comment is to shake his head and return
to concentrating on the jigsaw.
(2) Rudy is a busy 3 year old. This means cutting through
unnecessary adult verbiage – to get straight to the point. So when watching a
clip of Spiderman on youtube, and some adult inquires whether (among his many
superhero costumes) he’s got a Spiderman costume, Rudy fully understands the
important point this gives him the platform to make – he immediately answers,
simply,
clearly and firmly: “I need another one.”
(3) Rudy gets invited to choose what he wants to do after he
gets home from nursery. Sometimes it’s go to the park. Sometimes it’s watch a
dvd. Sometimes he wants to help cook dinner. Sometimes it’s something novel:
“I want to vacuum”
“Vacuum?”
“Yes, I want to vacuum.”
“Are you sure you want to vacuum? We could play a game?”
“I want to vacuum.”
“But it’s not very dirty. It was vacuumed yesterday.”
“I know. I want to vacuum.”
“If you insist.”
“Yes, I do insist.”
(4) While riding in the car, Rudy is introduced to his first
Beatles – Yellow Submarine (this among
many strategies used to distract him from asking “Can Rudydrive?” or playing
the rubbish music loved by 3 year olds
everywhere). Rudy develops simple system for expressing approval: “Again!”
(Sometimes
doubled to express even greater approval: “Again! Again!!”). Conversely, if
Rudy’s
not in the mood, then a simple “Enough!” suffices.
After Yellow Submarine comes Strawberry Fields Forever. If
Rudy does not shout “Again!” or “Enough!” after Yellow Submarine, the cd may
just keep playing.
One day, with just me and Rudy in the car, it keeps playing.
As the mellotron intro to Strawberry Fields begins, something strange and new
can be sensed – the sound of humming from the
backseat area. As Lennon begins singing, a child’s falsetto pipes in unison–
“Let me take you down, ‘cause I’m going to…Straw-ber-ry Fields”
Shortly, in delirious shock, “Do you like that song, Rudy?” “Why have we
stopped?”
replies Rudy.
Seizing chance, scramble through disc for something to capitalise
on this break-through in Rudy’s musical taste – chancing on Ticket To Ride. The
loud, clanging riff
begins. The drums begin to roar. A firm voice from the back immediately shouts:
“No! No, Donal!! Enough!!”
Stop the disc. Silence.
Withering in tone, Rudy delivers the damning verdict: “That’s for grown-ups!”*
(5) Rudy’s mummy often leaves him at the nursery with a
send-off explaining that she will pick him up later – or, if the child-minder
is picking him up, that mummy “will call” him later. One day, after having said
she “will call” Rudy later, she moves the car door as Rudy is exiting for
nursery – somehow catching his hand in it. Fortunately, examination shows
nothing broken or damaged. But, to be doubly-sure, Rudy is taken to Accident &
Emergency. There, a short while later, a second medical opinion confirms the
hand is not damaged. (Rudy has been to A&E several times, mostly when he
has dislocated his arm through over-exertion). Arriving back at nursery to drop
Rudy off for the second time that day, mummy is extra careful as Rudy gets off
his seat and exits the car.
Stood safely outside the car, Rudy looks serious and says
“Mummy.”
“Yes, Rudy?”
“Don’t call me.”
*Postscript to (4): Rudy now prefers Strawberry Fields to Yellow
Submarine – in fact, what he prefers most is “the weird bit”. “The weird
bit”, as Rudy calls it, is the end: where, after the song fades out, it fades
back in - the fade-in being a snippet of the track looped backwards. This is so
much Rudy’s favourite bit that if the car now comes to a stop at nursery with
the track still playing, everyone must remain seated and listen until “the
weird bit” has finished.
On Tuesday, 1 April 2014, 22:13, "cblists@xxxxxxxx" <cblists@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
Please excuse the
I'm-not-happy-in-this-game-so-I'm-taking-my-ball-and-going-home sentiments
appended to the content of Chris Bruce, Jr.'s last posting. He has been in
suffering from an assortment of discomforting medical complaints lately that
have had a detrimental effect on his ordinarily good nature.
C. Bruce, Sr.,
missing more than ever the moderators
(remember all that from Phil-Lit?) in
Kiel, Germany
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