It is February 26. I am on a seven hour flight from London to New York and I have been reading for the past couple of hours. I decide to catch up on the news. In the headlines: “Mother and step father starve 8 year old to death: Wayne Bridge opts out of England World Cup squad: The raging debate on mercy killing or assisted suicide: Breast feeding mother told to get off the bus: Girl dies at the pool side after young lifeguard stopped trying to revive her! The list of the sad and depressing headlines seems endless. I decide to pick up a magazine and thought I would find something to uplift my already downcast spirit.
The main feature is about “gender disappointment” Many mothers say they are depressed most times when they don’t get the sex they want for a baby. Apparently they spend their whole lives with the disappointment. Time for a reality check: Would my mum have preferred a boy instead of me? If she did, she never showed it. I would have asked her but since she is no longer here, I let that not disturb me. But why would a parent pretend to love you when actually all this time they are wishing you were a girl or boy. This did not uplift my spirits either.
I decided to watch a movie. I didn’t hesitate to choose Ricky Gervais and
Matthew Robinson’s “The invention of lying” with the hope that I could discover what gender disappointed parents do to hide their misery from their kids till death do them part.
I didn’t find the answer but I wished I could invent lies to make this whole world a better place to live. For example tell gender disappointed parents that that is the exact sex of the child they need; Wayne Bridge – You don’t need Terry to apologize for sleeping with an ex who is the mother of your child and England is much bigger than Terry: Breast feeding mothers: It is not indecent exposure to show “a little bit” of your breast on the bus as you feed your baby. These male chauvinists think so because they have the wrong thoughts all the time.
But wait a minute. I don’t think if I said so I will be lying. It is the plain truth which this world badly needs. I have to fasten my seat belt now. We are landing and I have another eight hours or so to New York my final destination. I promise not to watch depressing news again as I head for the big city. I want to arrive in high spirits. But there is no way I am going to keep abreast with the world if I don’t watch the news. Sothat is a lie. I finally invented one.
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