Friday, June 13, 2008

Being Home-Day 2

Well, I travelled 2.000 miles or so to get home and it's been a bumpy ride so far. Only Day 2 and already my parents want to sit down with me about my behavior. -sigh-


Yes, I've been short and a bit snippy with everyone, but I thought my hints about my eating habits that I've been dropping for a few weeks now were obvious. I was completely mistaken. Apparantly, my Dad (who's Jewish) thought I wasn't as serious about it as he originally thought. For example, my parents both buy Glatt poultry at Trader Joe's for some reason. Neither keep 2 sets of dishes, but have kosher food in the house. After my sister+my dad wanted to "have a little chat" with me, my dad understood that I was serious about my "dietary restrictions."

He's said, "Now I know the symbols matter to you, I'll be checking everything." The symbols. I told him I keep OU, CRC+Chaf K. Now before he opens something he asks me if it's fine. I went on a hekhsher hide-and-seek in the pantry and found which was and wasn't with a hekhsher. I told him, "Look, set me up with lettuce, hummus, and tunafish for the week and I'll be set."


-sigh-

Before I get into today, let me just say that I woke up to a nice surprise: My dad+grandparents had strung up "Happy Birthday" banners since my birthday is exactly one month away. We went to go get my phone fixed since it wasn't working since last night. I'm waiting for the replacement to come in the mail so it looks like I won't have a phone for a week or so.

And then there's the clothing issue... -sigh-

I mean, yes, I choose to dress more covered now than in high school, but it's only adding long skirts and more 3/4 tops. That, combined with my "dietary restrictions" my dad's called it "extreme." My response was that I'm not Szatmar; far from it! My sister used Pysch 101 to tell me how I might feel better about myself if the clothes I wore weren't as plain as they are. "Something with lace or some nice detail," she said. I'm fine with what I wear on the weekends. As I work a manual labor job, I wear not-so-nice clothes because of the work atmosphere: painting, moving heavy furniture, carrying heavy equipment...My work clothes consist of paint-spattered t-shirts and jeans with holes around the knees. I don't wear nice clothes to work because I get messy, whether I'm up on a bridge or painting sets. Seriously...I'm fine with the clothes I wear and I'm fine with the ones I'm in right now as a matter of fact, which are jeans and a Crew-neck t-shirt. Yes, it's fitted but not tight. The jeans are actually a bit loose on me. Maybe 'cause they're stretchy, I don't know. -shrugs- But Shabbos is my one day to dress like a girl, skirt+top that are dressy without showing skin. My sister said that I don't have to show skin to be dressed nice, though my clothes could add some detail without being so plain.

Oh yeah, that was the main thing, my not having shorts for these 2 weeks I'll be in southern CA. In my suitcase the clothes I brought are: work clothes, since I've been living out of my suitcase the past week; 3 skirts, a pair of jeans, and a few t-shirts, with the obligatory socks+underwear.

So we started at Goodwill to find me shorts. I know everyone is just trying to help, but I know what I like, and am not going to wear low cut tops or shorts when I haven't for a few years now! I tried on capri-s which looked weird on me, found a wool skirt that was too tight, and ended up getting black warm up pants with zippers all over the place which I can wear for shows--since we have to be in "dress blacks" and all. :-) I didn't find shirts, but I'm fine with Crew-necks. I'll only wear a V-neck if I have something on underneath. Oh yeah, that reminds me. I told my mom how I didn't have shorts, and her response was,"(Insert my name here), you're a young lady; this isn't Victorian times!" I don't see what's so bad about skirts. I mean, yes, I may have more than a few floor length ones, but it doesn't bother me. I'm not hot in them, considering it's 100-110 right now where my parents live. But I've gone off on a tangent...back to my day.

After Goodwill we went to DSW to find me shoes. I like the ballet flat, slip-on kind. I was just looking at sneakers when my dad wanted to leave. Maybe we can go back later today and have another look. I didn't have socks on and wanted to being back socks to make sure they would fit. Maybe on Sunday we can come back.

My dad went to Trader Joe's later on and came back with food for dinner. Spaghetti and tomato sauce, both OU, Morning Star Farms veggie burgers and something else I can't remember at the moment. Morning Star Farms is OK (Circle K). I told him again the hekhshers I keep and he just looked frustrated. I'm thinking I should just "honor thy parents" and eat what he bought. Rabbi X told me that the hekhshers are there to separate the Jews from the non-Jews, and it's turned into a holier-than-thou thing with all the hekhshers that are out on the market right now. Think about it: Some Lubavitchers keep Cholov Yisroel+Rubashkin, others keep Rubashkin+Chaf K; Black Hats (or the Black Hats I know of at least) keep Pas+Cholov Yisroel. My rabbi from undergrad keeps OU+CRC, and Rabbi X at Hillel recognizes most hekhsherim just not plain K. Seriously, I agree with Rabbi X. Why are the hekhshers such a big deal?



PS: Apparantly, Oneg brand cheese doesn't exist on the west coast...or at least not in my area.

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