I think we've gotten so used to multiple choice questions (Do you want chicken, beef or turkey?) that, when left trying to answer plain-ole "Fill-in-the-blank", we freeze. I bet you're pretty good at Jeopardy sitting in your own kitchen playing along with Alex. However, I have a news flash for you. In real Jeopardy, they don't give you any credit at all for answers like these: "Oh, I know this one! It's...uh..uh." Or "It's on the tip of my tongue; I just said it yesterday." Nope. No credit. You either know the whole blame thing or zap--zip--zero. You lose.
Most days I feel like I am being asked to come up with the answers to so many questions that I know I'll never be able to answer. I can usually fake it through a True-False question. Example: Taylor will find a career today in which he excels. (False) Or: Down Syndrome Adults have very few options after age 21. (True) Some of the short answer questions or essay questions really throw me for a loop. For 5 points: Discuss how you can meaningfully engage your adult Down Syndrome son in the life around him. Even if I make an outline, these kinds of answers are tricky and almost impossible for me to answer. I bet you can come up with some of your very own questions concerning your own life. (Example: In 25 words or less explain why your kids simultaneously chew you out while asking you for a ride to the mall.) See? These are hard questions!
Thank goodness "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire" and shows like that came along! Just in the nick of time I might add! Finally we've been given public approval to call for help. As we struggle to answer these $64,000 questions we can at least phone a Friend, use a Mobile Shout-Out, or..... and I love this one: Use a life line. Yep, call up Uncle Melvin, sitting in Peoria, waiting for our call. Seriously, where would any of us be if we had to do this successful living thing all by ourselves? The questions are just too hard some days. There are too many unknown answers. Or there are too many answers that could be Both A and B. (Is that true or false, would you say?)
Warning: Polling the audience doesn't always work. Just thought I'd clue you in that one. The studio audiences in our lives may not know the capital of Uzbekistan any more than we. Hence, it's probably not safe to rely on them to tell us if our child needs to be "in a home" or not. I am counting on you to sign up to be a lifeline in this life with me. Are you up for that? If not with me, with others? Phoning a friend....that's probably going to be the best bet any of us has. True. Definitely true. And, it's Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Call me.
