Chapbook entry

From Po Bronson's Why Do I Love These People?

p.14
No generation has had it easy. Today is neither harder nor easier; in fact, the comparison is useless. We are all experiencing the same pressure that has always been there -- economic upheaval and dislocation have always forced families to make choices they'd prefer not to make.

Do you agree?

p.25
Family is like Religion: There are all kinds, but when you get right down to it, you either believe, or you're not sure, or you think it's a crock of hooey.

Do you believe? Are you uncertain? Or do you think it's a crock of hooey?

p. 58
"Remember, mundanity can be elevated to art by perception alone." [...] We all have a choice whether to see the mundane or to see the beauty.

Which do you see: the mundane or the beauty?

p.84
All families are judgmental, but not all families are judgmental to the same degree. Many families judge people like they are vetting a candidate for the Supreme Court. Every fault is magnified and scrutinized. There's another way to do it -- more like the way people are patted down on the way to a rock concert. As long as you're not bringing in any handguns, knives or alcohol, you're welcome to join the party.

Do you vette newcomers or gently pat them down?

p. 120
It's common for us -- people of every income and plight -- to go through a period in which we're convinced we'd be free, if not for the family chained to us.

Have you ever felt that way?

p. 231
There's no doubt that parenting has changed from the days when my mother admonished, "Go out and play!" and did not see us for hours. Kids' imaginations are coddled, and their esteem is built up like a sand castle, and when they play soccer, no team ever loses. In this modern parenting environment, the hardest thing might be not stepping in. The scariest part might be letting your child figure it out for herself.

Do you "overparent"? Or do you give your children the freedom (and, some might argue, the respect) to figure it out on their own?

p. 263
This is a remarkably simply truth, and it's not even controversial -- we need to be willing to change! -- and yet how often are relationships ground down by people who are unwilling to give up the past?

Have you changed?

p. 283
When it comes to the trade-off between authenticity and security, it's not one or the other. A family needs both. Getting there, and establishing both, is one of the rites of passage a family must complete if it wants to survive.

It is not a race. Everyone who gets there will be rewarded.

Ayup.