Sunday, February 22, 2004

It's proof they don't listen

I don't have a voice in my family, something due to being the youngest and probably the most boring of all since I don't have any reason to appear on Jerry Springer as of yet...

Last year my husband and I made a website on geocities, and on one of my pages, I linked a buddy's website. He happens to be a gay male, and includes a story on his website about his coming into his homosexuality, and warns to readers that the story is graphic at times. I wasn't too worried when my Mom read it, I trust my family to be respecting adults who understand that I am old enough to decide what links I put on my website and what I don't put. Well that was too strong of an ASSumption for me apparently.

After getting an earful from my dear Mother, I added a warning on my own page (since she proved that the big warning on my friend's page can be overlooked). This warning states:

"...if you're a relative of mine over the age of 32, or an overly conservative person, or a southern baptist, then please do not read his stories if there is a warning, he really means those warnings!"


Warning enough correct? Not so much. One of my conservative, southern baptist aunts over the age of 32 (I put that age b/c that is the age of my oldest relative who I think would enjoy different perspectives) clicked the link, apparently without reading the warning. Even though she had to click that link, and go to a completely different site that has pictures of the man who wrote it, and then click other links in order to get to his story... she somehow believed that I had written some overly erotic novel on homosexuality and called my Mother worried.

This makes me wonder just exactly what DID my family think of me when I attended an all women's college, did they call each other behind my back worried that I was a lesbian? Is THAT why they were so shocked when I returned from England with a husband?

I love my british in-laws. I'll hardly know if they ever disagree with anything I put up online or talk about, because they're so accepting of an open mind and actually listen to what I say. It's refreshing.

Family... they remind us daily just why we're trying to run from them.