You might point them out as a horrible example - as in, you want to wait and find just the right person so you don't end up like them.

Man, after all the drama about finding the spouse and the expense and effort of the wedding, no one would DARE to get divorced.

ION, it's official, I have a job to go to in DC. So I'm planning to arrive there May 1. Anybody want to buy a whole load of silverplate (silverware, coffee service, etc), so I don't have to eBay it?

In like a lion out like a lamb?

okay, we have a song in which a pathetic girl (it is NOT autobiographical! i swear) goes through how every month from Nov-April sucks for her since her boyfriend left her. March's line is:

March here at last
In like lion, out like lamb
a lamb that is sadly bleating

YAY RAQ BACK IN THE US!

It's not just immigrant parents - the home-grown variety can be just as crazy.

Oh, yeah, most definitely -- it's just amusing (in a @@ or possibly tragic way) that every single immigrant culture seems to use the exact same script: "All those [not-Indian/Greek/Italian/Jewish/Irish/Japanese/Filipino/etc.etc.etc.] people are completely different and threatening, for our culture is so incredibly unique in its love and reverence for Family, and they are totally incapable of understanding you the way we do."

The first time I read The Joy Luck Club, I was blown away by how identical it was to my aunt's experience as the US-born daughter of immigrants. You could've gone through the entire book, yanked the words "China" and "Chinese" and popped in "Greece" and "Greek" (and maybe a few descriptions of traditional food and clothing) without changing anything else, and it would've been her adolescence and young adulthood word for word. (And, sadly, the older she gets the more she unthinkingly pulls the exact same shit on the next generation.)

Oh, speaking of? I saw Amy Tan speak last month at my school, and she was amazing. Seriously the best speaker I think I've ever seen.

(Could I use the word "speak" any more? I think not.)

You might point them out as a horrible example - as in, you want to wait and find just the right person so you don't end up like them.

Hm, I never thought of that. She always uses that against me as a caution against dating some white Caucasian she-devil and tarnishing our reputation further. I think I've stopped bothering coming up with arguments, because they never work. Might as well surrender to destiny.

Might as well surrender to destiny.

And date Caroline Dhavernas?

I went to my job interview and the chick isn't in today. WTF?

What? Madness!

Hooray, job for Raq! And I am tempted by the silverplate. Tempted, but ignorant. How is silverplate different from silver?

sadly, the older she gets the more she unthinkingly pulls the exact same shit on the next generation.

Oh, that's too bad. I've always put my folks complete refusal to pull that crap down to their experiences getting it from their respective families. I guess that's not foolproof.