Three contemporary icons that stand out in my mind are the minivan, soccer mom, and bottled water.
The minivan was introduced as a cross between the full-size van and the station wagon. Families wanted to be able to keep the size of the van but still be able to fit it in the garage like the station wagon. During the 1980’s gas prices were in check and interest rates were low, the minivan became the vehicle of choice for the American family. The introduction of the minivan brought about the term of “soccer Mom”. Everywhere you saw a minivan there were sure to be a Mom and a boatload of kids. Soccer Mom’s are always on the go, they are constantly running here and there. They are trucking their kids, their dog and the neighbors’ kids from one extracurricular activity to the next. All this running makes Mom thirsty; hence the introduction of purchased bottled water.
I have always been behind the times. I missed the minivan era. My children played with kids whose parents piled them into a minivan to take them to soccer, but I never owned one; and why the term “soccer Mom”? The first time I heard the phrase I wondered, “do that many kids play soccer”? Why not “football Mom” or “baseball Mom”, are not these two sports our national pastimes? I refuse to buy bottled water. When I am at the soccer game and I get thirsty I reach for my water bottle, which I filled from my tap, for free, at home.
At one time these three contemporary icons were constantly entering my household by way of the Internet, television and the Jones’. I was beginning to wonder if I was shortchanging my two children. When I pleaded with my husband (between sips of my free bottled tap water) to trade in our sensible four-door sedan, for a minivan with a cool door that slid shut on its own, for the sake of our children’s future. He would remind me that we still owed on that sensible four-door sedan and that if we got a minivan we would be expected to take the entire team to practice on Wednesday. I never brought it up again.
minivan/soccer mom picture
Frontburner.dmagazine.com
The minivan was introduced as a cross between the full-size van and the station wagon. Families wanted to be able to keep the size of the van but still be able to fit it in the garage like the station wagon. During the 1980’s gas prices were in check and interest rates were low, the minivan became the vehicle of choice for the American family. The introduction of the minivan brought about the term of “soccer Mom”. Everywhere you saw a minivan there were sure to be a Mom and a boatload of kids. Soccer Mom’s are always on the go, they are constantly running here and there. They are trucking their kids, their dog and the neighbors’ kids from one extracurricular activity to the next. All this running makes Mom thirsty; hence the introduction of purchased bottled water.
I have always been behind the times. I missed the minivan era. My children played with kids whose parents piled them into a minivan to take them to soccer, but I never owned one; and why the term “soccer Mom”? The first time I heard the phrase I wondered, “do that many kids play soccer”? Why not “football Mom” or “baseball Mom”, are not these two sports our national pastimes? I refuse to buy bottled water. When I am at the soccer game and I get thirsty I reach for my water bottle, which I filled from my tap, for free, at home.
At one time these three contemporary icons were constantly entering my household by way of the Internet, television and the Jones’. I was beginning to wonder if I was shortchanging my two children. When I pleaded with my husband (between sips of my free bottled tap water) to trade in our sensible four-door sedan, for a minivan with a cool door that slid shut on its own, for the sake of our children’s future. He would remind me that we still owed on that sensible four-door sedan and that if we got a minivan we would be expected to take the entire team to practice on Wednesday. I never brought it up again.
minivan/soccer mom picture
Frontburner.dmagazine.com
bottled water picture
letsgetgreen.wordpress.com
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