On Exile Farm and gift-giving.

[dreadedcandiru2]

The odd thing about all of this talk about the band and stuff is having to remember John's useless advice about how Becky had traded FRIENDS!!! and FUN!!! for a silly day-dream that kept her from the good things in life like serving the interests of grasping yuppie vermin who think that having to wait more than five seconds to get what they want makes them the victims of all victims surpassing all othershim and Elly. The reason that I mention this is that his sovereign cure for what he sees is his children's ingratitude and defiance is being exiled to a failing dirt farm and being lorded over by an obnoxious hippie and his smug idiot daughter.

The reason for this is not, of course, just that he and his imbecile wife have a sort of stupid fetish about farm life. If it were just that his belief that exposure to horned cattle, horses, chickens and ass-scratching hicks magically make children wonderful, it would be one thing. The problem is that we have to read his retcons and endure his getting all sentimental about the long, hard days being at the south end of a north-bound horse. Simply put, when he proposed sending the kids to Danny and Bev's farm, John was basically being a typical man and giving unwilling people a present he'd like for himself. Ah, well. At least his being the same sort of goof who'd have bought Elly a socket set if he thought he could get away with it makes him better about it than a wife who won't admit to why she's doing something.