giggling.
Yep ⦠now she knew she could tackle Gordon the builder and Poppy the bitch tomorrow. All was well.
22
Gordon and the boys always arrived before she left with the kids for school, despite the original agreement that the builders would time their arrival not to coincide with the morning rush. The first morning, they had unexpectedly turned up and since then they seemed to have totally lost all sense of time. Still, she would deal with him later. Now to get the children to school. At the gate, she gave them each a big fat cuddle and tried to transmit courage into Michaelâs soul.
âMichael, donât stand for any nonsense from Algy and Toby. They must be very sad and lacking something in their lives to be bullying you. Look at them straight in the eye. Donât cry. And if they do anything, tell the teacher straightaway, OK?â Michael nodded and attempted a smile. Sometimes she really felt sheâd like to take them out of school. Educate them at home ⦠but then theyâd probably develop no social skills and wouldnât be strong enough to face the real world. On the other hand, what sort of social skills would they be developing, mixing with the likes of Algy and Toby? What was she doing, telling Michael not to cry? Sheâd always sworn that she wouldnât turn her children into emotionally-stunted automatons. Sheâd allowed them, within reason, to express themselves honestly and not be stuffed into stereotypical moulds. But she didnât want Michael to be vulnerable, leaving the gate wide open for every little harpy to pick at him as he grew up. It was horrible that vulnerability and sensitivity were taken advantage of, but then, mused Mel, how far from gorilladom have we really come? Weâre still gorillas. Gorillas that can send other gorillas into space; can hurl themselvesaround at high speed in metal boxes and think they can control the world around them. If she looked at Poppy for example and saw her as she really was, a hairy gorilla with pendulous arms and equally pendulous breasts, the woman seemed rather pathetic ⦠rather like King Canute telling the sea to turn back. With this in mind, she went over to Poppy, who was air kissing and indulging in excessive social grooming practice with the school governors and members of the PTA that she thought might be able to help her climb the greasy pole one day.
âHi Poppy,â smiled Mel nonchalantly.
âOh hi, darling,â replied the distracted Poppy. Poppy obviously had bigger fish to fry at this little social gathering. She ignored Mel and carried on chatting, giggling and fluttering her eyelashes at Bob, the PTA treasurer. Mel stood where she was and had a little chat with Rupert, who was on the fringes of the PTA and not quite considered âone of usâ. Rupert was rather a shy individual who reddened every time he was addressed. It amazed Mel that heâd put himself up for election as Chair recently. Needless to say, he got nowhere although his experience as managing director of a software company should have made him eminently qualified. It was always the same, wasnât it? People that get elected know the right people but know nothing. Thatâs why the world is in such a mess, thought Mel. The most powerful nations of human gorillas in the world were led by the most stupid and self-serving, because the stupidest ones never had to try to learn anything since their life was mapped out at birth along a straight, diamond-encrusted path and the self-serving used the intelligence that had pushed them up from the bottom of the pond to ensure that they were âall right Jackâ. To get anywhere on the winding road to power, one had to pick the lice, fleas and ticks from the coats of those born to it. Just as Poppy was doing now, as a matter of fact.
âOh, Martha! You are so witty!â she laughed inanely. âOh,we really must meet up for drinkies soon. Why donât
Yep ⦠now she knew she could tackle Gordon the builder and Poppy the bitch tomorrow. All was well.
22
Gordon and the boys always arrived before she left with the kids for school, despite the original agreement that the builders would time their arrival not to coincide with the morning rush. The first morning, they had unexpectedly turned up and since then they seemed to have totally lost all sense of time. Still, she would deal with him later. Now to get the children to school. At the gate, she gave them each a big fat cuddle and tried to transmit courage into Michaelâs soul.
âMichael, donât stand for any nonsense from Algy and Toby. They must be very sad and lacking something in their lives to be bullying you. Look at them straight in the eye. Donât cry. And if they do anything, tell the teacher straightaway, OK?â Michael nodded and attempted a smile. Sometimes she really felt sheâd like to take them out of school. Educate them at home ⦠but then theyâd probably develop no social skills and wouldnât be strong enough to face the real world. On the other hand, what sort of social skills would they be developing, mixing with the likes of Algy and Toby? What was she doing, telling Michael not to cry? Sheâd always sworn that she wouldnât turn her children into emotionally-stunted automatons. Sheâd allowed them, within reason, to express themselves honestly and not be stuffed into stereotypical moulds. But she didnât want Michael to be vulnerable, leaving the gate wide open for every little harpy to pick at him as he grew up. It was horrible that vulnerability and sensitivity were taken advantage of, but then, mused Mel, how far from gorilladom have we really come? Weâre still gorillas. Gorillas that can send other gorillas into space; can hurl themselvesaround at high speed in metal boxes and think they can control the world around them. If she looked at Poppy for example and saw her as she really was, a hairy gorilla with pendulous arms and equally pendulous breasts, the woman seemed rather pathetic ⦠rather like King Canute telling the sea to turn back. With this in mind, she went over to Poppy, who was air kissing and indulging in excessive social grooming practice with the school governors and members of the PTA that she thought might be able to help her climb the greasy pole one day.
âHi Poppy,â smiled Mel nonchalantly.
âOh hi, darling,â replied the distracted Poppy. Poppy obviously had bigger fish to fry at this little social gathering. She ignored Mel and carried on chatting, giggling and fluttering her eyelashes at Bob, the PTA treasurer. Mel stood where she was and had a little chat with Rupert, who was on the fringes of the PTA and not quite considered âone of usâ. Rupert was rather a shy individual who reddened every time he was addressed. It amazed Mel that heâd put himself up for election as Chair recently. Needless to say, he got nowhere although his experience as managing director of a software company should have made him eminently qualified. It was always the same, wasnât it? People that get elected know the right people but know nothing. Thatâs why the world is in such a mess, thought Mel. The most powerful nations of human gorillas in the world were led by the most stupid and self-serving, because the stupidest ones never had to try to learn anything since their life was mapped out at birth along a straight, diamond-encrusted path and the self-serving used the intelligence that had pushed them up from the bottom of the pond to ensure that they were âall right Jackâ. To get anywhere on the winding road to power, one had to pick the lice, fleas and ticks from the coats of those born to it. Just as Poppy was doing now, as a matter of fact.
âOh, Martha! You are so witty!â she laughed inanely. âOh,we really must meet up for drinkies soon. Why donât
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