First Person: Obama Sign Drives Wedge Between Mom, Daughter
Why I Wouldn't Go to My Parents' House for Three Weeks
By Leigh Andersen | Yahoo! Contributor Network – Fri, Nov 9, 2012
Yahoo News asked voters to share stories about relationships gone sour during the election - and how they're working to mend fences. Here's one person's story.
FIRST PERSON | It came with a text from an old high school friend. "Um, I think I just drove by your parents house and saw the biggest Obama sign I've ever seen. I thought you were a Romney fan?" No, I thought to myself. There's no way. I mean yes, my parents are a little left-leaning, but a yard sign? They're not like that, she must have gotten the wrong house. And then another. Your parents live near Brookfield Elementary right? Oh my gosh, that yard sign is huge!
Since I talk to my parents multiple times per week, I gave them the opportunity to tell me about this, and yet somehow no mention of this supposed monstrosity was made. Not even a hint. Maybe it was the fact that I was not ashamed to make my allegiance to Mitt Romney in the politically divisive Chantilly, Va., or maybe they really just didn't think it was news, so I called my brother who lives halfway across the country. "Oh yeah, it's big apparently. Four feet by eight feet or something."
So I decided to confront the issue head on. My mom's response? A quiet, ashamed, "So you heard." She went on to rationalize it that she was just trying to balance out the large Romney sign across the street and that kids in the neighborhood really responded to it. So I quipped, "Mom, I'm not coming over until that yard sign comes down." Immediately, guilt overwhelmed me. Making her choose between a yard sign and her own flesh and blood, but I felt betrayed, deceived, and embarrassed.
I stuck true to my word, but thankfully I didn't have to wait until the election. Apparently Hurricane Sandy likes offensively large political yard signs less than I do and blew it away. It wasn't replaced. And thankfully as her child, neither was I.
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