avatarAmy Sea

Summary

A local mother comes to a realization of her privilege and insensitivity after reading about the struggles of less fortunate families and systemic racism, leading her to question her own actions and status.

Abstract

A local mother, previously preoccupied with her busy lifestyle, encounters a moment of self-awareness upon reading a newspaper. The articles detail the hardships faced by families during crises, the ongoing impact of systemic racism, and the disparities in vaccine access. This newfound knowledge causes her to reflect on her own privileged life, acknowledging her contribution to and benefit from societal inequalities. Despite her epiphany, she is quickly pulled back to her privileged concerns, highlighting the complexity of changing one's perspective and actions.

Opinions

  • The mother's reaction to the news stories suggests a critical view of her own privilege and the obliviousness of those in similar positions of advantage.
  • The juxtaposition of her privileged life with the struggles of others serves as a satirical commentary on the disparities in society.
  • Her immediate cancellation of a social event after learning about the suffering of others indicates a sense of guilt and a desire to avoid appearing insensitive.
  • The mother's quick return to her privileged concerns, such as her son's college applications, reflects the challenges of sustaining personal growth and the pull of ingrained habits.
  • The article implies that awareness is only the first step and that true change requires consistent effort beyond initial realizations.

Satire

Local Mom Realizes She’s An Asshole

She picked up the newspaper

Photo by Luiza Braun on Unsplash

A local mom was shocked this morning to discover that she’s an asshole.

Local mom had been too busy to read the news for the past decade, due to soccer, chess club, math Olympics, gymnastics, travel, and volunteer work. Today, she picked up a newspaper. You could have knocked her over with an Evite.

“Oh my god,” she said. “I’m an asshole.”

While reading about families of 12 having to share one case of water, during a pandemic, during a power grid outage, when the refrigerator was warmer than the house, local mom spits out her Nespresso coffee.

“Oh my god,” she realizes, “I suck.”

Reading an article about how African-Americans are still suffering from institutionalized racism because of slavery, local mom stops whisking her farm-raised organic eggs, immediately.

“Shit,” she says. “I’m benefitting from white supremacy.”

Local woman, who just this morning was yelling at her husband about which doctor friends of theirs could slide her ahead in the vaccine line, read an article about old people lining up for miles during an ice storm to get vaccinated, some of them dying.

She immediately canceled her Zoom cocktail hour with her book club.

“How could I look anyone in the eye,” she said to her Australian mini Labradoodle with a French-accented bark. “Knowing who I am now?”

“Ruuuf,” barked Simone de Beauvour.

Local woman finds out she’s an asshole. Then remembers Colton’s college applications are out, and she’s gotta call Harvard to remind them that both she and her husband are legacies.

Would you rather be laughing? MuddyUm and Amy Sea

Humor
Satire
Muddyum
Kids
Funny Girl
Recommended from ReadMedium
avatarAnthony (Tony/Pcunix) Lawrence 👀
I Have Decided I Cannot Vote For Camila

I just cannot

2 min read