For your own good

[From Fred Nickols (991120.1550)] --

Norman Hovda (991119.1416 MST)

Ever read Alice Miller's

_For Your Own Good_

"Hidden cruelty in child-rearing and the roots of violence"?

No, I haven't, but I think I will. The title/subtitle remind me of a
youthful experience which I will share.

At the age of 11 I was caught smoking by my grandmother. She promptly made
me smoke an entire package of Herbert Tareytons (the brand she smoked). I
had to inhale, too (which I was not doing when she caught me). At the
outset of her lesson, she said quite forcefully, "I'll teach you to smoke"
-- meaning, of course (or at least so I've always thought), that she was
going to punish me in a way meant to guarantee that I would never again
smoke. Well, her words proved quite prophetic -- she did indeed teach me
to smoke. By the end of that pack of Tareytons I could inhale without
embarking on a coughing spasm. So, at the ripe old age of 11, I was an
accomplished smoker -- thanks to my grandmother's brand of cigarettes --
and her brand of pedagogy. Boy! Talk about the external imposition of
reference conditions...

ยทยทยท

--

Fred Nickols
The Distance Consulting Company
"Assistance at A Distance"
http://home.att.net/~nickols/distance.htm
nickols@worldnet.att.net
(609) 490-0095