This Odd Thing on TV They Call "Beer"

The boys - probably mostly Ian's initiative - make a point of putting on "King of The Hill" for me.  They know it's nearly the only show that I like, so even though it's not quite their cup of tea, Ian likes to go out of his way to indulge me.  He's very concentrated in his task; he'll put it on, call me into the room, and do little things to confirm that I'm watching a show that I actually like.

Of course, this is a problem because it is, after all, King of the Hill.  It might not be as bad as much of the stuff out there, but there's lots of unwholesomeness, and I really shouldn't let them watch it.  But tonight's incident was pretty amusing...

They showed a very old episode, involving tension between the World War II veterans from the Arlen (Texas) VFW and the Vietnam veterans who never felt welcome there.   Cotton and Hank Hill come to the realization that, as radically different as these two generations may be, they have one common enthusiasm which should be exploited to bring them together, namely a love for beer.

At that point, Daniel asked, "Beer?  Daddy, what's beer?  Is it like root beer?"

I have no scruples.  "Uhhh... yeah."

But Ian spoke up:  "More like wine I would say."

Daniel went on trying to envision what this drink might be like.

So I get parental demerits for letting them watch "King of the Hill."  But I think I must be entitled to a few brownie points for the fact that Daniel didn't know what beer was until age seven.

In all honesty, they certainly know what wine is, and who it is, in our house, who drinks it.  And they used to know Pepsi pretty well, and make a sport out of breaking into my Pepsi stash, drinking it, stashing it in caches in the yard, leaving open cans behind...

I don't know if they know that the long white sticks of reeking tobacco are actually called "cigarettes."  For a long time, when they'd see someone smoking one, they'd say something like, "That girl was smoking a pipe."  And of course, I would never correct them.

Vocabulary is overrated.

(April 12, 2013)