Oy vey. One of my mother's parrots died a couple of days ago and it's as if it's been the trigger for her to go into full Joan of Arc mode. I've had a few conversations of the "how much more must I be forced to endure?" variety over the last couple of days.

My sister has had it worse because her Joanie conversations have been peppered with variations on the theme of "everyone leaves me" with "I'm old, how can I be expected to endure so many hours on a plane and she's doing this just to be spiteful."

So there you have it. I am now officially, The Bad Daughter.

"I'm old, how can I be expected to endure so many hours on a plane

Suggest she go by balloon chair instead.

(No, I *am* a bad daughter, so everything I suggest is going to be in that vein.)

"So, is there a financial angle?"

Uh, I don't see anything wrong with this question being asked by the prof. of a college business class. If it were an ethics class, that would be weird.

"So, is there a financial angle?"

Uh, I don't see anything wrong with this question being asked by the prof. of a college business class. If it were an ethics class, that would be weird.

Yeah, especially because it's not out of the realm of possibility that someone would pull something like this for just that reason.

What I find infuriating is that we (the general we) feed into it. See: The Today Show and GMA having the family on this morning. If publicity was what they wanted, they certainly got it. My feeling is, it's over, the kid was never in danger, story over, why are we still talking about it?

Just in case you need your mind blown....

If We Live in a Multiverse, How Many Are There?

Answer: "at least 10^10^10^7"

I think it's tacky to ask about a financial angle when the kid could be dead somewhere. Once we know he's fine, then ask away.

And I'm still thinking about it because I spent several hours being upset yesterday. I suspect we were all played, and it makes me angry, but I still have this shadow of feeling left over from yesterday.

eta: Does that sound snippy? Didn't mean to.

I saw the financial angle question as an attempt to get the class back to talking about class stuff instead of news of the day.

And I'm still thinking about it because I spent several hours being upset yesterday. I suspect we were all played, and it makes me angry, but I still have this shadow of feeling left over from yesterday.

I think I'm jaded. And for me, as soon as it turned out the kid had been hiding the whole time, any concern I felt just evaporated. But ... see above re: jaded.

What I find infuriating is that we (the general we) feed into it. See: The Today Show and GMA having the family on this morning. If publicity was what they wanted, they certainly got it. My feeling is, it's over, the kid was never in danger, story over, why are we still talking about it?

On Morning Joe they were discussing the family being on several shows this morning and on Larry King last night and how they weren't going to feed that publicity monster. One of their guests rightly pointed out that they just had done that once again. If they were serious then don't mention it at all. They were embarrassed, but still continued reporting the story, although not interviewing the family.

I think I'm jaded. And for me, as soon as it turned out the kid had been hiding the whole time, any concern I felt just evaporated. But ... see above re: jaded.

Yeah, I started hitting the cynic button the minute the family's background came to light and that's while the balloon was still in the air. So by the time it landed and it became clear the kid wasn't there, I was no longer surprised.

My grandmother tripped and fell while walking several years ago and broke her nose. She was completely unphased and actually almost gleeful. "I look like a raccon!"