The Classic Question
"If you had to choose, would you marry Ginger or Mary Ann?"
My jaw dropped in surprise, then laughter, as I realized my seven-year-old had asked the question.
This summer has seen a resurgence in the popularity of "Gilligan's Island" in our house, and the boys are about halfway through the third and final season of the show. I never watched this show as a kid, so most of the episodes are new to me, too... well, kind of. It didn't take me long to realize that the show used the same two or three plot lines on a heavy rotation and none of the characters ever changed. And it was less than a week before I was beyond done with the ever-loving theme song. Andstereotyped, one-dimensional quaint and charming characters.
At any rate, the boys have been loving it, and as long as they stick to their max limit of two episodes a day, I can handle it.
But I never did expect any of them to come up with the hypothetical "Ginger or Mary Ann" question... at least, not yet.
As it turns out, all the men-folk of the house, except Noah, voted for Mary Ann. (Well, also except Levi, who abstained from the vote.) I am glad. Noah gave his reason as "she's pretty."
Yes, she is, but I was relieved to hear that the votes for Mary Ann had a few more supporting reasons. Among them:
I am a strong admirer of the practical, as well as the beautiful. And every time she tries to manipulate a man into doing things her way by tickling his cheeks with her false eyelashes, I want to smack her.
(Aside: Also, I want to know how Mary Ann and Gilligan (the designated laundry-doers most of the time) managed to keep everyone's clothes so immaculate for three years on an island with no power or detergent. Seriously, I want their secret. No one ever gets so much as a worn cuff! Ahem. End aside.)
So, I guess I cast my vote with the majority: Mary Ann. Except I don't want to marry her. I bet she and I could have been friends, though. :-)
My jaw dropped in surprise, then laughter, as I realized my seven-year-old had asked the question.
This summer has seen a resurgence in the popularity of "Gilligan's Island" in our house, and the boys are about halfway through the third and final season of the show. I never watched this show as a kid, so most of the episodes are new to me, too... well, kind of. It didn't take me long to realize that the show used the same two or three plot lines on a heavy rotation and none of the characters ever changed. And it was less than a week before I was beyond done with the ever-loving theme song. And
At any rate, the boys have been loving it, and as long as they stick to their max limit of two episodes a day, I can handle it.
But I never did expect any of them to come up with the hypothetical "Ginger or Mary Ann" question... at least, not yet.
As it turns out, all the men-folk of the house, except Noah, voted for Mary Ann. (Well, also except Levi, who abstained from the vote.) I am glad. Noah gave his reason as "she's pretty."
Yes, she is, but I was relieved to hear that the votes for Mary Ann had a few more supporting reasons. Among them:
- She's pretty, too.
- She's nice.
- She can do more than bat her eyelashes.
- She can cook, and sew, and clean, and do stuff outside.
I am a strong admirer of the practical, as well as the beautiful. And every time she tries to manipulate a man into doing things her way by tickling his cheeks with her false eyelashes, I want to smack her.
(Aside: Also, I want to know how Mary Ann and Gilligan (the designated laundry-doers most of the time) managed to keep everyone's clothes so immaculate for three years on an island with no power or detergent. Seriously, I want their secret. No one ever gets so much as a worn cuff! Ahem. End aside.)
So, I guess I cast my vote with the majority: Mary Ann. Except I don't want to marry her. I bet she and I could have been friends, though. :-)
