Sunday, January 27, 2008

Crazy High School Lady

My daughter received one of those full color-glossy advertisements for high school graduation junk: rings, announcements, diploma frames, you know the drill. There's long been a multi-million dollar business of selling "souviners" to commemorate the graduation experience, not to mention those increasingly expensive and extravagant breakfasts and parties and trips, all designed to transform each day of a person's senior year into a big deal.

And it's true that completing a high school diploma is an important milestone in a person's life. I just have a problem with the excessive and tacky flotsam that has been glommed onto the achievement, the sense that you haven't really celebrated your moment unless you've purchased the Cherished Memories Gold-Embossed Limited Edition Graduation Back Scratcher. That's what I see when I view the close-up of this frighteningly ecstatic "mom" practically caught in mid-shriek as her precious snowflake departs for a world of adult consumer opportunities.

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