The air conditioning man (also known as a god among men) came and fixed our upstairs air this morning. It was okay at night with the windows open, but during the day it got unbearable. We don’t have any shade around our house, and the afternoon sun just bakes the front rooms. So, thank you Mr. Scott Air Conditioning Man, for making the upstairs tolerable once again.
Over the weekend I was in a wedding, and I went to a bridesmaids’ luncheon on Friday. When I got there, the bride’s aunt told me to go out back and join everyone for mimosas. On the deck were some of the bride’s female relatives and friends, all drinking mimosas. I thought about how very different that was from my family. My parents drink very very rarely, and they taught me that drinking’s not a sin if done in moderation. But I could count on one hand the amount of times I’ve seen them drink. My mom’s sister drinks occasionally, and my dad’s sister has wine pretty regularly (both of those are mother-figures to me), but I don’t think any of my mom’s brothers drink. And my grandma and grandpa never ever drink. They are devout Southern Baptists and believe that it’s a sin, so none of us would wish to cause them grief by drinking in front of them. Which of course means that none of my wedding showers that included grandma had alcohol, and my wedding was alcohol-free. I don’t have a problem with those decisions . . . they were my decisions, out of respect for her. But it also gave me pause to see my friend having a drink with her grandma. It’s very much out of my paradigm.
You hear about little old Southern ladies having a drink in the afternoon . . . think The Divine Secrets of the YaYa Sisterhood or something like that. But in my family, it would be sweet tea or lemonade, not alcohol. I imagine that all of this sounds very quaint to some of you, but it’s very normal to me. In situations like the one on Friday, it makes me feel very uncool, because my family is so different. I don’t know a whole lot about alcohol or the different kinds of drinks, because I didn’t grow up around it. There’s a restaurant in Charleston called Jestine’s, and they call sweet tea their “table wine.” I love that, because I can relate to it.
Oh, and, I’d never had a mimosa before. It was very good.
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8 Comments
I can’t imagine what that would be like. I would be one of those guys who would be walking around with a beer in my hadn offending everyone. I’m so glad I’m from drunk Minnesota.
I thought about this yesterday, too, Adam, when you said on your blog that you walked past your mom and got a beer. I can’t really imagine doing that, hehe.
It’s so funny that you posted this today. On Saturday I helped my mom host a Baby Shower brunch and my sweet Southern Baptist granny, who does not drink but it amazingly feisty and cute, declared, “Where are the mimosas?!”
My parents wanted to be the first to take me out for my first drink on my 21st and they sure did.
Alcohol was a big no-no in my family. My family was southern baptist, although my dad’s dad was an alcoholic, which I think is the main reason he was so down on it.
it wasn’t until college that it dawned on me that having a drink wasn’t of the devil.
My family doesn’t have a problem with alcohol, but it’s a no-no in my church. I choose not to drink for many reasons, but it boils down to 1) I have a leadership postition in church, so I have to follow the pastor’s teaching and 2) I don’t want to take any chance of liking alcohol too much. At least I don’t come down on drinkers like some others.
you LIKED mimosa??.. ugh!.. you should let me get you all liquored up… uhh.. I mean.. you should let me show you some GOOD drinks… hehehe
i had a mimosa on easter sunday. i enjoyed it.