The Ride Home From Rocklin....

On my way home from dropping the kids off from school, I turned on the radio and happened to catch the beginning of a segment called "The Lie Detector." Well, against my better judgment, I was a bit curious as they brought on a mother who wanted the "truth" from her daughter. Now, this mother told the DJs that she and her daughter were very close, talked all the time. Her daughter goes to college in Colorado. Her mother was worried about her. At first, I thought maybe she was wanting to know how she was doing in school or if she was partying too much, or failing and lying about it. But no, she wanted to know how her daughter felt about Proposition 8. Apparently, the mother is gay, came out when her daughter was 14 and divorced her husband. I think my jaw dropped. She was upset that she kept trying to bring it up and every time her daughter would change the subject. Her daughter votes by absentee ballot as a resident of California and obviously had to have made a decision on this proposition.

Well, the DJs call the daughter on her cell phone, pretending to be taking a poll about how people are voting. The daughter told them she had already mailed her absentee ballot. So they asked her to answer two questions- Who she had voted for in the presidential election and how she voted on Prop 8. She told them Obama and Yes on Prop 8. They asked her to hold a minute and then got her mom on the phone who had been listening the entire time. Well, this turned into the mom crying, asking why, the daughter crying and bringing up how she was still upset about what happened between her parents, etc...

he DJs were actually expressing their disappointment to the daughter for her actions. I know this is entertainment, but here is a girl blind sighted by her mom on the radio (some close relationship!) and they are making her feel worse. One DJ asked her- Now that you know how this hurts your mom and how much it really does men to her, would you go back and change your vote? I think I held my breath as I thought Oh my goodness, are they trying to make their own No on Prop 8 commercial here? Well, it was silent for a bit and then the daughter said. I'm sorry, but no. I would still vote the same. That must have been hard to say, but she did it. Now, I know she was made out to be the bad guy in this situation. And some people could have heard the same segment I did and feel completely different.

Obviously the radio station was probably thrilled they had something so current and controversial to put on their show. What's funny is that they don't see that a mother put her daughter on a radio station to find out how she was voting. I understand that this Proposition affects her directly, which to me means all the more reason to have the conversation privately with your daughter. If she had tried and couldn't get a straight answer, than I think that does give her the information she wanted. I mean, she had to have known what the answer would be when she asked since she had to go about it in this way. I'm sure that daughter is going off to class (or not because she is so upset) feeling horrible. I wish I had her cell phone number to call her and say "It's OK!" She obviously believes something and did not back down. I know she didn't just come out and tell her mother before what she felt, but when backed into a corner and most people fold, she didn't. She could have said, Yes, I'd change my vote, knowing that she wouldn't and technically it wouldn't change anything.

Since I wouldn't waste my time calling into the show and having it fall on deaf ears, I say "Stephanie in Colorado....Good for you!" I know she'll never see this, but I will put it here anyway.

At our activity last night, the young women mentioned that they were made fun of at school when they expressed their opinion about Proposition 8. Other students would say mean things to them. I know these girls are strong enough to take it, but it would be nice if they didn't have to. As much as I am not a fan of the radio segment I heard, my hope is that someone heard it who already has the belief in Prop 8 and makes a decision to not fold when they are backed into a corner. I know I feel that after hearing it. Although I probably won't have to deal with ridicule as my world consists of a 21 month old and the parking lot at my kid's school, I am still grateful for all those who have experienced it and kindly do not give in.