Inside My Mother's Brain

Sometimes a game can be a window into another person's mind. For Christmas, my son received Catch Phrase, a Scrabble branded device. As words and phrases come up on the little screenlet, one player describes the word/phrase while another guesses what it could be. It is a good time passer on a car ride. On New Year's Day, we played with my mom.

My mother has a very consistent world view. She's all about unions and the working man. She is extremely suspicious of anyone who has money or privilege, which will become apparent in a minute.

Her first word was "pharmacist." If you needed to describe this word, you would probably say "you go to this person when you need a prescription filled." My mother said: "CVS owes these people a big thanks." That's right, they better pay them a living wage, or they will have Mary Kelly to answer to.

Next up, she had "Big Business." This one was right up her alley. Her clue: "The Republicans are working for these people, I mean REALLY working for them." The kids were flummoxed. I knew what she was talking about, after 50 years of listening to her, but I guessed "The One Percent" and "Big Shots" before I hit on the right answer.

Another phrase came up on the screen. "You would never trust a person like this," she said ominously. "They are definitely going to cheat you." Republican? No. CEO? Nope. Thief? Nah. The answer? "Used Car Salesman."

That one was a little off-message, mom. But thanks for playing. I know I owe you a big thanks.