Transcript
Speaker: Welcome to My American Hero. This program is brought to you by POS Podcast Productions. Thank you to Mandy Applebaum for sharing this recorded conversation with her therapist.
Speaker: Sometimes we may not know who the real hero is. Real Hero
Speaker: What would you like to discuss today? I don't know. I guess I'm still sifting through my childhood memories on the farm. My grandfather was adamant that I pick fresh peas every morning and eat them.
Speaker: To this day, I hate eating farm fresh peas. Now I only the frozen packaged ones. It's stupid, really. i need to get over it. Why do you think your grandfather wanted you to pick and eat fresh peas from the farm?
Speaker: He grew up during the Depression, and back then, finding fresh peas to eat was a godsend. I think it was his way of sharing history with me. I imagine owning a farm made him feel safe and secure.
Speaker: It was his life.
Speaker: Say more about his request for you to pick and eat fresh peas. Each morning my grandfather would say the same thing to me. Go fill this satchel with fresh peas.
Speaker: Bring them back to the porch, and I'll watch you eat them. Then, after I finished eating the peas, he'd say, Now go sit on the pot and take care of your business. How did that make you feel?
Speaker: I hated it. It was so weird. Often I just pretended I was eating the peas. My grandfather's eyes weren't very good, so I'd chew on a single pea pod and throw the rest to the rabbit under the porch.
Speaker: I still feel a little guilty for tricking him. Do you think your grandfather was hurt by your actions? I was just a kid. Was I really supposed to eat a big bag full of farm fresh peas every morning?
Speaker: That may have been the right thing to do. You're literally not helping me. All I'm saying is your grandfather built a successful pea farm, and he wanted to share it with you. Some would say he's an American hero.
Speaker: Honestly, my American hero was the fucking rabbit under the porch. What kid wants to stuff their face with farm-fresh peas and sit on the pot shitting all day? A good kid, I suppose.
Speaker: But that's for you to decide, Mandy.
