Well, at least it’s dry in here.” Rose Jackson spoke from her chair in the Jackson house sunroom, looking out over a backyard covered in heavy greyish white snow. Rain fell steadily, a small stream of water trickling from the downspout visible at the corner of the the house. She gestured towards the window. “Nobody’s going to tell me that’s normal.”
There was a brief silence while the rest of the assembled family considered this.
“You know what they call it Mom,” said Jennifer, from her chair across the room. “They call it the new normal.”
Read Also
The Jacksons take a final bow
Are we going to call this meeting to order or what?” Brady Jackson leaned back in his chair and looked…
“Ha.” Andrew scoffed. “What a crock. New normal. That’s just pretending something is normal so you don’t have to deal with the fact that it totally isn’t normal.”
“That’s what people do now,” said Brady, who was slouched comfortably in the chair next to Rose’s. “Pretend stuff is normal so they don’t have to deal with it. It’s the new normal.”
“What I can’t figure out,” said Randy, who was seated in the corner armchair, his feet stretched out onto the old leather ottoman that Rose had been trying to discard for years, but which Andrew kept rescuing from the trash, “is whether the human race’s need to make everything seem normal as quickly as we can is part of our survival instinct or part of our denial instinct.”
“The human race doesn’t have a denial instinct,” said Brady dismissively. “You just made that up.”
“And I rest my case,” said Randy. “Obviously, you’re in denial about the fact that we have a denial instinct.”
“No I’m not,” said Brady.
“Don’t worry about it,” said Randy. “It’s normal to be in denial.”
“True enough,” Andrew agreed. “And that’s not a new normal either. In fact that’s a normal that’s probably as old as the human race itself.”
“I hate to be a complainer,” said Rose, “but if having two weeks of above-zero temperatures in January is going to be the new normal, why does it have to be so rainy? Why can’t it be sunny and pleasant? I mean this is just like living in B.C.”
“But without the mountains,” said Brady.
“And the snobs,” added Jennifer.
“But with the complaining,” said Andrew.
“I said I don’t like to be a complainer,” said Rose. “But I feel I am being forced to, by unpleasant circumstances.”
“It really is unpleasant,” said Randy. “I’m going to join the complaining team on this one. A week and a half ago it was inhumanly cold. I’d get up every morning and mutter under my breath all the way out to the shelter to check on the cows about what kind of moron ancestors we had, to end up in this frozen wasteland instead of a beach in Puerto Vallarta. And then I’d listen to the forecast and there would be no relief there, till one day suddenly John Sauder said we’re looking for a high of +3 for tomorrow, and my first thought was, well that’ll be miserable, won’t it? Why can’t it just be -5? Not too cold. Not too hot.”
“Because of global warming,” said Jennifer. “More extreme weather events. Rain in January. Snow in June. Hail whenever. Tornadoes in Saskatoon. Get used to it. It’s the new normal.”
“All righty then,” said Randy. “If it’s normal, what’s to worry about?”
“We can still complain though, right?” said Rose. “Just because it’s normal doesn’t mean we have to be cheerful about it?”
“Whatever makes you happy,” said Jennifer.
“It’s not about being happy,” said Rose. “It’s about being unhappy.”
“OK, whatever makes you unhappy then,” said Jennifer.
There was a lull in the conversation at this point. Eventually Andrew looked around the room and then spoke. “Hey,” he said. “How long has it been since the five of us were in a room together with no wives or children or significant others added to the mix? I can’t even remember.”
“A long time,” said Brady.
“Five years at least,” said Randy.
“It was last Saturday,” said Rose.
“Huh,” said Andrew. “You’re right honey. It was last Saturday.”
“It doesn’t happen often though,” said Jennifer.
“No offence,” said Rose, “but I like it better when the others are here.”
“None taken,” said Andrew. “I fully agree.”
Randy looked at his younger siblings. “Well there you have it,” he said. “We have been replaced in our parents’ affections, by our wives and children.”
“Our wives and children are pretty awesome,” said Brady.
“I never thought it would happen,” said Jennifer.
“Well that’s life,” said Rose. “Welcome to the new normal.”
