“PJ, go get the plunger.”
Somewhere in our house, a toilet had refused to take what it was given. The waters were dangerously near the top. One of the most disgusting incidents in a home was happening.
A plumbing crisis! Seconds count. Would a mop and some strong disinfectant be needed as well?
It’s not unusal for my husband to tell our sons to do something – empty the trash, pick up your clothes, stop running in the house. The list goes on and on. That’s what parents are supposed to do.
But this request struck me as a bit odd. Did we want our 9 year old walking through the house with a toilet plunger, no doubt swinging it around like it was a toy. YUCK! And which toilet was clogged this time, and who was the culprit?
Not wanting to usurp his authority, I gingerly asked, “Why do you want PJ to get the plunger?”
“Because I’m going to show him how to use it.”
I was horrified. Was he really going to make our baby take on the murky waters of a stubborn commode?
“But he’s only nine years old,” I whimpered, like a weak-willed mother standing in the way of her child’s imminent ascent into responsibility and manhood.
But my husband, God bless his strength and his ability to see me when I have tunnel vision, said, “He needs to know how to take care of a house.”
My fear that my son would get some yucky stuff on him or the walls melted away. Here was my husband, their father, teaching, instructing and guiding. I just love to watch that. So many don’t get to see it, even if there is a husband and father in the house.
Earlier this week, I discussed on KMOX the Reverend Jesse Jackson’s believe that the White House is trying to change the political landscape of New Orleans by developing a reconstruction effort that will leave out the poor who are more likely to vote Democratic. Jackson was in town to pick up hurricane survivors and take them to New Orleans to take advantage of the jobs being offered during the cleanup.
Workers are so scarce that Burger King is offering $6,000 bonuses to those who agree to work fulltime for a year. The founder of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition is upset that workers from Central America are getting many of the jobs rather than those who were driven from New Orleans by the hurricane.
A caller to the station who identified himself as a black male said he was tired of those like Jackson who, he believes, are perpetuating the victim status.
Despite Jackson’s rocky past and his egotistical image, I just don’t think that’s what is at play here.
Just as my husband was stepping up to the plate in order to show our son how to be responsible and take care of his own house, Jackson has once again stepped up to the plate to show the powers that be that they can’t be irresponsible by not allowing the victims of Hurricane Katrina the chance to clean up their own house. Isn’t that what community activists, clergy and elected officials are supposed to do?
The right reverend Jackson may not like the analogy, but certain messes just need a plunger.