I just survived a 10 day visit from my mom-in-law. She's not so bad actually, but as she's gotten older, she's gotten quite vociferous in expressing her dislikes. My husband told her she needs to curb the judgmental act, but I have to admit that I had a great time tallying up all the things for which she expressed extreme dislike or disapproval. It was an eclectic collection, to be sure. Here, in no particular order, are the things she didn't like as of March 25, 2013:
- Tattoos, particularly full sleeves. Simply hideous. What will these people do when they are old and their skin sags?
- Some poor lady's skirt, which had a pattern resembling newsprint. She wanted to know why you would decorate fabric like that. "Why not just wrap yourself in the newspaper? It's cheaper."
- The large piece of artwork hanging in our entryway.
- Edward Gorey artwork. She allowed that the Gashlycrumb Tinies were amusing, but the drawings are ugly.
- The scent of jasmine.
- The paint color I picked out to repaint my kitchen.
- The turquoise, large-faced, funky watch I bought as a cute gift for my daughter. "Will she really wear that?"
- Square cars. I think she means Cubes and Kia Souls, but who knows?
- Televised sports.
- Charles Lindbergh.
- Joseph McCarthy.
- Fat people.
- Novels. Only biographies meet with her reading approval.
- Modern music.
- All dramas on television. Except "Call the Midwife." And "Doc Martin". And "Downton Abbey."
- My son's girlfriend's clothing style (she's a lovely girl and has a great eye for fashion).
- One of the new succulents I bought for the garden. "Not an attractive color."
- Artwork by Kandinsky.
- Nose-piercing by head-hunting tribes in New Guinea (a museum exhibit we attended). The head-hunting apparently received her stamp of approval, but the nose-piercing was just too much.
