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6 the currentNovember 2010Longview Drama presentsA Flea in Her EarAntoinette Bradley/The CurrentLongview’s dinner theater, Backstage at Bobette’s, staged “A Flea in her Ear” inOctober.current@mcckc.edu
November 2010the current 7opinionCallie V. HansonQue será, seráChange is intolerable sometimes – just completely disrespectful,uninterested in your input, comes out of nowhere, out to get you,isn’t it? I heard somewhere that to live is to change, so I’m learning toaccept it, but you can’t make me like it.Dad announced his engagement last week. It’s great news really, he found a wonderful womanwho he will be very happy with. I’m happy for him, really. I am no longer on the hook for changinghis diapers when he’s too old and feeble to take care of himself. Welcome to the family, Lady! ;) Heblurted out the news to me in a phone conversation about a birthday present for my nephew; he wastoo excited to announce it cleverly. Experiencing your parents in new relationships can be tricky. Ithink I handled it quite well. I showed interest in the details of the proposal, expressed excitementin my voice, and said, “Congratulations,” as deserved. Then I hung up the phone and cried. Why?Why so sad? It’s that pesky change again, creeping up on me like my sneaky cat, who slips into thebathroom when no one is looking and pees in the bathtub. Rude, right?For the past 12 years of my life, my dad has been a great friend and companion. My parentsdivorced about that long ago, and he has had his ups and downs, but through it all he has remainedloyal to his daughters and given life and limb to see that we are happy. On my wedding day, hegrieved, intense grief brought on by the impending end of something special that was unique tothat time in our lives. In the eight years since then, he has relished his role as a grandfather, built ashire in the north woods where our scattered family can feel at home on our vacations, and made ita monthly commitment to camp out in my guest room for as long as his break from work will allow.We have grown comfortable in this pattern; we rely on it. We enjoy ourselves immensely, and he hassucceeded in bringing happiness where he resides in our lives. Along comes Olivia (not his fiancé –her name is Sue. Olivia is my sneaky cat who pees in the tub out of spite.)Isn’t it strange how comfortable we get in our lifestyle, when we know it is bound to change? Ifmy fear were in charge of me, I would be the kind of person who moves into their dream home andnever unpacks the boxes because there are stairs, and when I’m old, I’ll have to move again. Instead,I tend to over-nest, to over personalize. I tend to project all of my contentment into eternity, thinkinglife is about accumulating positives. You add pleasures: a better home, lovely children, a better job,and you discard pains: the crappy apartment with carpet on the bathroom floor, the old job thatworked you too much and paid you too little. Then at the end, you live in a utopia of your owncreation, and you die peacefully in your sleep, and pass it down to your unsuspecting children whohave to find a way to include the pleasures and discard the pains (usually in the form of bickering,liquidation and a Salvation Army pick up). Makes total sense. I think that is what change should be;this sneaky change looks more like compromise to me. Seems more like to live is to compromise.I like to think I’m maturing as I get older, and in that spirit, I sucked up my tears and reasonedthrough my sadness. I’m not sad because he is moving on, I am sad because I put all my eggs in mycurrent basket. I feel loss when I picture a Lady at his stove, messing with our traditions, sitting inmy spot on his sofa, and managing his financial generosity. I am losing what I have. Then I thoughtabout what will be: I can stay at my 80-year-old grandmother’s house when I visit the Shire instead,it could be the best 10 years of our relationship before she passes. I won’t have to clean up my dad’sbachelor pad anymore when I visit. I don’t have to worry that he lost a heroic rumble with a bearin his woods when I don’t hear from him for a week. I won’t have to worry that his generosity isdepleting his retirement, that he isn’t eating well, that he is lonely when he leaves us. That’s yearsadded to my life right there! And sure, right now I’m out of positives and the scale is still tippingtowards tears, but I know that we will find our way.Change is not a compromise from perfect now to less than perfect later. It’s just one less thanperfect season shifting to another less than perfect season, which is actually quite a relief. Everyoneknows the grass is always greener on the other side, and mowing today will just make you have tomow tomorrow (or at least that’s what my husband says when mowing day comes along, althoughnow that I think about it, I’m not seeing the sense). The point is, compromise is healthy and evenenjoyable at times. Hopefully, part of growing up also means learning how to extend the seasonsthat feel the most fulfilling and how to get through and find our way out of the seasons that try usand leave us scarred.Most of us will probably die in one of the less desirable seasons of our life, maybe very ill, awayfrom our beloved homes, maybe before it seems to be our time, maybe upon exiting the showerbefore we are properly robed. But it’s the scars and the best memories that make up our utopia inthe end. If we make it to the rocking chair, orating to our loved ones the stories of our lives, it’s thechanges that will define us, not the constancy. So thank you Lady, for loving my dad, for mixing it up,and for pushing me into another peak or valley. Here’s me hoping it’s a good one.www.longviewcurrent.orgthe currentthe student voice of Metropolitan Community College - Kansas CityLongview Campus Cetner 243500 SW Longview RoadLee’s Summit, Missouri 64081816.604.2308current@mcckc.edu www.longviewcurrent.orgEditorsAntoinette BradleyRachel MadearisPhotographerRayyan UmraniAdviserPat SparksReportersJason WelchApril RaglandDani PostNicole PalmerJosh O’HoraTimothy LongLouis KemnerReader CommentsNote: If you have a lengthy letter for The Current, wemust have an electronic copy. If you need to protectyour anonymity, please paste the letter into theComments field at longviewcurrent.org.More on ParkingRe: “Is there enough parking at Longview?”(September 2010). We know there is a problem, andhas been for at least 2-3 years. While I agree thatparking is not a very reasonable excuse and thata student should plan ahead for scarce parking,sometimes that is the case; maybe more than youwould think. I myself have either skipped a class,or been late because of the lack of parking. On oneside you say that “well you should have left yourhouse a little earlier, right?” Well yes but is it also thesame level of ridiculousness that a school offeringeducation to students trying to better their livesdoes not have enough parking to accommodatethese students they are accepting ? The point being,we have recognized a problem and that it causessafety issues, health issues, and attendance issues.What can we do about it, though? That is what I’mnot hearing. The faculty lot(s) are a little generous,I agree, but some of the other proposed ideas arejust outrageous. A shuttle from the back lot by theRec Center is impractical, so is the idea of removingthe tiers from the existing parking lots. If we doeither of those, that’s making the problem worse; wedon’t need a construction area in our already overcrowdedparking lots. A parking garage may makesense for UCM, but not Longview. It’s not practical tofor a college to pay for a 4-story parking garage. We,as students and willing faculty, need to take action.There are obviously sufficient resources and spaceon campus to improve the parking. I am proposinga one-day event where all the people who regularlypark on the streets or in the apartment complex tofeel free to park in the grass behind the white fencesthat surround Longview. This will most certainlypiss off the cross country team, but you can’t makeeveryone happy when you’re trying to get somethingsee COMMENTS on 11
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