family dynamics (家族)

I believe it was Frank Zappa that once said "we could improve world wide mental health if we acknowledged that parents can make you crazy"; I've seen two things recently that inclined me to agree.

The first was in a local record shop, I was browsing the discount section when I heard a customer talking to the clerk about a family day out to HMV in Charlton, and how their selection of products has declined. At first it sounded like general chit-chat, but then I realised; a day out to HMV?! How dull! I wonder if they took a picnic? Or had a family discussion over which season of The Simpsons was superior?

I can't decide if the second event was better or worse. It was in Greenwich Park shortly after the Race For Life earlier this month; a young girl of around 6 or 7 was jogging ahead of her family, presumably in high spirits about completing the 5km run when her gargantuan father (and that's an understatement) rumbled "hur hur, surprised you managed that, never been the most afletic kid 'ave ya!". This man was to provide the foundations for her upbringing, and insulted her athleticism when he probably couldn't spell the word, let alone embody it.