The maverick and sa mère

Recently I realised that there are actually more people who read my blog posts than I have estimated. Because everytime when I write something slightly "controversial" people will start messaging me or coming to talk to me about their opinions on whatever issue I was writing about. The marriage issue provoked some refreshing debate, and now my bubble people story has friends who come and tell me they totally agree with my POV to those who disagree extremely. Which is exactly what I had hoped for. It just means that at least people here care about these issues which I think are important to most of us. I would have been sorely disappointed if I wrote a highly contentious issue and no one gets provoked by it. So if those who thought I had offended them with my views in one way or another, I didn't mean to. I'm just trying to make people think about issues which I think matter in this world and that they would otherwise not think about with the busy lives we all lead these days. Call me a maverick or whatever. A society needs mavericks to progress, though I know that not everyone in our society can and should be a maverick. It's a fine balance afterall.

While waiting for more opinions regarding my previous, let me tell you about my mother. Unlike most families, my mother is the head of the house. If you have ever talked to my mum you will know what I mean. And recently I've been addicted to this song, Viva La Vida, by Coldplay, because it reminds me exactly of my mother:



Now my mother is a very strange creature indeed. We can argue about anything, from the simplest thing like throwing out the trash every night to the most complicated thing like what's the meaning of life. Often, we end up agreeing to disagree. My dad just sits there and listens like some retiree with nothing better to do and my sis just ignores us and continues to watch her taiwan drama serials on tv. So recently my mum has been on a "let's persuade my eldest daughter to get married" campaign. Everytime I mention a guy from school or virtually any guy, she will then ask how old he is and what he does. Now you wonder why would I mention any guy within my mum's earshot, but let me tell you that it's just the kind of conversation in which you go "Oh, I went out for group project meeting and one of our project mates just happened to have a car so he gave us all a ride home." Harmless you might say, but not to ma mère whose ears will immediately prick up and then her questions start firing like bullets. Mind you, she dosen't go for the "what are you doing with this guy" stuff. She's the "oh-I-think-I-am-so-sly-because-I-ask-indirect-questions" style. So like mother like daughter I also do unto her what she does unto me. I usually dash her hopes quickly by going "yeah, he fetched me home first and then his girlfriend last" or "yeah, and you know he's a very interesting guy because he's gay". I find myself getting more and more creative with my inventions to foil her unrelenting attacks. I don't know if all mothers do this kind of thing to their daughters. But if they all do, well I guess they just don't get it that it'll only piss their daughters off and the campaign will most likely fail. So mothers of the world, cut your daughters some slack please. As long as your daughter is safe, happy and living her life to the fullest, I don't see why can't you be happy for her too.