Friday, December 16, 2011

The Gift of Power

The only Asian kid in my elementary school in a small town in Vermont was Bruce Powers. We all had a crush on him. My brother had a crush on his older sister, Amy. She had strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes and freckles. I suspect one of them was adopted.

The weekend that we discovered we were expecting the jBird, the power went out across the entire northeastern part of of the United States. I suspect it was a portent of things to come.

A friend and I once sang Snap's I've Got the Power while doing a semi-choreographed dance on the Great Wall of China. I suspect we gave the locals a mistaken impression of what Americans are like.

The state university where I finished my degree had excessive P.E. requirements for graduation, so in my last semester I signed up for back-to-back Power Walking classes starting at 7:00 AM, 3 days a week. That was the semester that I also developed bursitis in my right hip. I suspect it was caused by my extra, crooked vertebra, not because I was a wimp as my instructor was fond of telling me.

My dad used to say "money is power". He always told me to give money to people rather than lend it to them because I didn't want to have that sort of power over people. I suspect he was right.

The power ballad, More Than Words by Extreme, came on in the grocery store the other day. I sang at the top of my lungs. When my monkeys protested, I said "What?! This is so about my life!" and continued to sing. I suspect this will fall into the category of suppressed childhood memories.

In my house, the sentence "I'm going to power out a deuce" is in no way a reference to either tennis or cards. I suspect that you probably guessed that.

I don't understand the "power nap". A nap for me is a long, leisurely, drooly affair. I suspect I have been sleep-deprived for too long.

In a social psychology class in high school, I learned this concept: Whoever has the least interest in a relationship has the most power in said relationship. I spent several years trying to perfect feigning disinterest. I suspect that was ineffective.

A friend of mine posted this article the other day about stereotyping powerful women. I suspect that the stereotyping will end when we stop speaking in terms of powerful women and powerful men and instead speak of powerful people.

I find most definitions of power to be suspect.




11 comments:

  1. I, too, find most definitions of power to be suspect. Also, the one with money has power (which is similar to what your dad said). Especially, if it's involving a relationship. And even if it's not meant to be used to define the relationship, sadly, it still does.
    Power naps are overrated and are not effective. I've tried plenty. I need to fall asleep for several hours in order to feel like I accomplished a good nap. Pshhh, 20 minutes my rear end. ;)
    I've saved some words just for you...some of them make me laugh out loud
    chamste
    lingelse
    undue
    stros
    waticew
    coniatis
    excle
    treerz
    rongni
    mogensor
    grandr
    bobros
    profiace
    untype

    ReplyDelete
  2. It would be pathetic of me to say that this is a powerful post or that you have an impressive power of expression, right? Yeah, I thought so.

    My sweet-faced six-year-old granddaughter went into the first door on the right a few days ago and when she emerged, she announced that she had "dropped a deuce." Her dad's work schedule changed recently and he now gets home about an hour before her mom. The impact of that daily hour is starting to show. ;O)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have More Than Words on one of my mix CDs. My kids don't really appreciate it (or my singing it) either.

    Speaking of my kids, thanks to them we all think of Snap's I've Got The Power as the "Skinny Diarrhea Song." When they were younger they were absolutely convinced (and could not be dissuaded) that the "it's gettin', it's gettin', it's gettin' kinda hectic" part was actually "skinny, skinny, skinny diarrhea."

    ReplyDelete
  4. A nap is a nap is a nap; use any kind of adjective you want. Power, leisurely, drooly, so long as it is sleep, [preferably uninterrupted] a nap by any other name is still better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, as me father used to say.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have to agree with Mark. I'll take a nap anytime, even if it's 15 minutes. As long as I'm not driving.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great post. I'm in agreement about the nap thing though...closing my eyes, even if only for a few minutes, is magical. Not that I'll sleep, but the potential for sleep is refreshing. Sad, I know. Interesting link, btw

    ReplyDelete
  7. Interesting thoughts. A good way to lose friends is to loan them money. Helping a friend with sincerity can strengthen a friendship. Letting it be known that you will freely hand out money is likely to gain you temporary, but false friends. There is indeed power in money and I wouldn't mind having some of that power.


    Lee
    Journaling Woman at my memoir blog
    starting Saturday 12/17/2011 with a special giveaway!
    Wrote By Rote

    ReplyDelete
  8. Power is about the electricity and I hate it when it goes out.
    I am always working with kids on the concept of power and how easy it is to give yours away. I like it when a kid walks away having discovered that they have power.
    And power naps can save me. A post work 20 minute snooze on the couch is all it takes to give me an additional 3 or 4 hours of power (as in ability to get something done. I liked this post!

    ReplyDelete
  9. This is not a powerful post. It is a post that prompts introspection, and fun memories.

    My little brother (now 24), used to stand on the couch in his diaper and sing "I got power!" He hates that story now.

    Extreme's "More Than Words" always prompts a sing-a-long with Hubs in the car. Always.

    I am a professional sleeper. Power nap, complete with drools ... I can do it in 25 minutes. Love it. Except waking up with drool in my ear.

    And powerful people. Yes.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have now adopted "powering out a deuce" into my vernacular because it's brilliant.

    Also? I'm a notorious singing-to-the-muzak-in-the-grocery girl. Mainly because muzak is now U2. *ahem*

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for reading and taking the time to say hello!