Family Politics: Uncle Jethro
Affirmative Action is kind of like your awkward Uncle Jethro, the one who lives a few blocks from your house, but you really only see at Thanksgiving. Grandma wants him to leave, says he's not the son she remembers. You're getting annoyed with his hugs and crazy stories, but dinner hasn't been served yet, and who's going to tell him to go? No one wants to rock the boat, family quarrels got Aunt Helen banned from these dinners entirely. You don't want to end up like Helen. Your parents choose not to talk about Old Jethro, so no one really knows how you feel about the guy. You can be damn sure that if anyone walks into the house and tells him to go, you'll all stand behind him. I mean, he's a part of the family. You may pray that he'll leave after the turkey, but he looks pretty comfortable in that recliner, and you're too full of triphtophene to care. It is unfortunate, though, that he's stealing attention from the good things happening in the family, like Aunt Euphonia's life, with the marriage and all, and whatever happened to Uncle Joe? Drug Addiction? No one really notices, though, not in the presence of quirky old Uncle Jethro. Hey, at least the kids like him.