24. Knock ‘Em Out – Lily Allen 2006

 

Can't knock 'em out, can't walk away
Try desperately to think of the politest way to say ('Er, sorry, yeah, but nah')
"Just get out my face, just leave me alone
And, no, you can't have my number (why?), 'cause I lost my phone"  

 

 

Don’t get me wrong, I love my dad, however . . .

However, my dad has been an old man for a very long time. He’s also managed to simultaneously be a perpetual adolescent.

Of course I’m talking metaphorically here.

Throughout my life I’ve witnessed my dad’s frustration at not being able to control situations or feeling like someone wasn’t taking his advice. Examples include him trying to talk my niece (who he and my mum raised as their own - see Post 12) and I into moving to Queensland because he’d decided to move to Queensland. I’d allowed my dad to think that he’d talked me into moving to Canberra a few years before this, but really I just wanted to move home regardless of his views on the matter. However, when he decided that Queensland was the place to be just five years after I’d moved to Canberra, I really couldn’t be arsed. This resulted in mass frustration for my dad as he realised that he wasn’t getting his way.

Another example of this is when my parents split up – not long before my dad decided to move to Queensland. If you ask my mum, it’s my dad’s fault that they split up, but I remember my dad’s frustration at trying to reconcile with my mum but not getting his way.

Both of these situations, and many others, ended with my dad carrying on like a petulant child as temper tantrums erupted. The term “man child” comes to mind.

My dad is one of four, having three accomplished and capable sisters. One of these sisters reached the highest level of education and professional accomplishment of the four siblings, and even happens to be the eldest sibling. However, my dad has felt the need to verbalise to me a few times that the traditional way is (was?) for him to take on the “head of the family” responsibilities once his parents died.

Sorry, I don’t understand. What happens if there isn’t a son to take up a family’s metaphorical throne?

Sorry, again, but when my parent’s time is up I will not be looking to my brother as an authority position. Yes, I may consult him on some matters, but I will not be seeking his approval, blessing or whatever else a “head of the family” thinks they do.

Unfortunately the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. My kid brother is just as prone to dummy spits and expecting those around him to tolerate it. Sorry, but if I was to have the same temper issues as these two, I would have been slapped across the arse and told to grow up. Funny thing is that my dad has spent too much time whining to me about my bro’s temper, but all I could say was ‘Welcome to my world’ because he and my mum had let my bro get away with this kind of behaviour when he was a kid.

Personally, I find this behaviour – temper tantrums directed at those that they think should tolerate it – just a small step behind domestic violence.

Hang on! Does this explain my sister’s choice in partners (see Post 8)? That damn apple tree!

Imagine if ‘Oh my God! A woman!’ was to be so utterly out of control of her emotions that she’d spit the dummy at the men in her life (refer Post 16).

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEkglpOTVCw