7:51 p.m. | 2002-12-27 Mother Knows Best, Right? I�ll just cop to the fact, right up front, that this isn�t a tale about my mother. I�m stealing a �mother story� but I think I have some privilege here since I was a witness to this whole thing. Back in the late 1980�s, I worked at a financial institution and, occasionally I did house/pet sitting for the chief financial officer (CFO). Her husband had his own accountancy firm, and both of them came from rather wealthy, prominent families. They had a beautiful, professionally decorated, lakefront home. They also had a very pampered cat. As they only lived about a mile away from my home, I never actually stayed at their house. I just did several drop-by visits everyday to take care of things. So, of course, I had the keys to their home and their alarm code. However, I wasn�t the only one with access. CFO�s mother also had keys and the alarm code. I truly believed that CFO always hired me to house/pet sit because her mother lived out of town, and well, because she was trying to keep her mom out of the house. But, invariably, CFO would tell me that she would probably stop by so I was kind of job-sharing with her mother. Whatever. I still went and did what I was hired to do. Her mother though� she always did more. She went that �extra mile�. Or two. Or sixy. Anyway, one day I showed up and the front door and all the windows were open. Realizing that CFO�s mother (M) had probably �stopped by�, I announced my self before entering the residence. Here�s that. (CI:) Hello? Anyone home? It�s Cruel-Irony. (M:) Oh, come in Dear. I�m in the kitchen. (CI:) (As I�m walking towards the kitchen.) I just stopped by to feed Kitty and check on things� Oh! (Said as I entered the kitchen.) CFO�s mom was painting all the kitchen cabinets a very, very bright royal blue. That, of course, was in contrast with the neutral color scheme of their whole home. (M:) What�d you think? Isn�t this lovely? Oh, I know CFO is going to LOVE this. This house is so bland and my little CFO just LOVES color! She always has� I don�t know why she had them paint the cabinets white; that�s so boring. Do you think she�ll be surprised? (CI:) Oh, I�m quite sure she�ll be surprised. (M:) Don�t you think she�ll just LOVE it?! (CI:) I don�t know but I�m sure she�ll� um� appreciate all your hard work. (M:) Oh, she�s just gonna LOVE this! CFO hated it, of course, and ended up having them repainted white. And, for the record, she also wasn�t very happy when her mother cut one of her very expensive rugs into two pieces so she could put one piece in the bedroom and the other in the bathroom because �it was just too pretty to only be in the bedroom, and besides, the bathroom floor gets chilly, Dear.� My mother, of course, has never had a key to my home. your thoughts? seed flower