Om at have det rette perspektiv

Jeg har lige fundet (endnu) et brev på nettet. Brevet er fra en pige til hendes forældre, hvor hun fortæller om, hvad der er sket, siden hun begyndte på college. Der er sket en del... men brevet er et godt eksempel på, hvordan man kan bruge retorik til at ændre på andres menneskers forventninger og perspektiv.

Dear Mother and Dad,

It has now been three months, since I left for college. I have been remiss in writing and I am very sorry for the thoughtlessness in not having written before. I will bring you up-to-date now, but before you read on, please sit down. You are not going to read any further, unless you are sitting down. Okay?

Well, I am getting along pretty well now. The skull fracture and the concussion I got, when I jumped out of the window of my dormitory, when it caught fire shortly after my arrival are pretty well healed now. I only spent two weeks in the hospital, and now I can see almost normally and only get those sick headaches once a day. Fortunately, the fire in the dormitory and my jump were witnessed by an attendant at the gas station near the dorm, and he was the one who called the Fire Department and the ambulance.

He also visited me in the hospital and since I had nowhere to live, because of the burnt out dormitory, he was kind enough to invite me to share his apartment with him. It’s really a basement room, but it’s kind of cute. He is a very fine boy and we have fallen deeply in love and are planning to get married. We haven't set the exact date yet, but it will be before my pregnancy begins to show.

Yes, Mother and Dad, I am pregnant. I know how much you are looking forward to being grandparents and I know you will welcome the baby and give it the same love and devotion and tender care, that you gave me, when I was a child.

The reason for the delay in our marriage is, that my boyfriend has some minor infection, which prevents us from passing the pre-marital blood test and I carelessly caught it from him. This will clear up with the penicillin injections, that I am taking daily. I know you will welcome him into the family with open arms. He is kind and although not well educated - he is ambitious. I am sure, that you will love him as much as I do. His family background is good too, for I am told that his father is an important engineer for the sanitation department, that he works for. Although they say, that he runs his office from his truck.

Now that I have brought you up-to-date, folks, I want to tell you, that there was NO dormitory fire, I did not have a concussion or a skull fracture, I was not in the hospital, I am not pregnant, I am not engaged and I do not have syphilis. However, I am getting a "D" in history and an "F" in science, and I wanted you to see those marks in the proper perspective.

Your loving daughter