The Ultimate Christmas Gift?
Dear Santa,
I rarely ask for much. This year is no exception. I don't need diamond
earrings, handy slicer-dicers or comfy slippers. I only want one little
thing, and I want it deeply.
I want to slap Martha Stewart.
Now, hear me out, Santa. I won't scar her or draw blood or anything. Just
one good smack, right across her smug little cheek. I get all cozy inside
just thinking about it. Don't grant this wish just for me, do it for
thousands of women across the country.
Through sheer vicarious satisfaction, you'll be giving a gift to us all.
Those of us leading average, garden variety lives aren't concerned with
gracious living. We feel pretty good about ourselves if our paper plates
match when we stack them on the counter, buffet-style for dinner.
We're tired of Martha showing us how to make centerpieces from hollyhock
dipped in 18 carat gold. We're plumb out of liquid gold. Unless it's of
furniture polish variety.
We can't whip up Martha's creamy holiday sauce, spiced with turmeric. Most
of us can't even say turmeric, let alone figure out what to do with it.
OK, Santa, maybe you think I'm being a little harsh. But I'll bet with all
the holiday rush you didn't catch that interview with Martha in last
week's USA Weekend. I'm surprised there was enough room on the page for
her ego.
We discovered that not only does Martha avoid take-out pizza (she's only
ordered it once), she refuses to eat it cold (No cold pizza? Is Martha
Stewart Living?) When it was pointed out that she could microwave it, she
replied, "I don't have a microwave."
The reporter, Jeffrey Zaslow, noted that she said this "in a tone that
suggests you shouldn't either." Well lah-dee-dah. Imagine that, Santa!
That lovely microwave you brought me years ago, in which I've learned to
complicated dishes like popcorn and hot chocolate, has been declared
undesirable by Queen Martha.
What next? The coffee maker? In the article, we learned that Martha has 40
sets of dishes adorning an entire wall in her home. Forty sets. Can you
spell "overkill"? And neatly put away, no less. If my dishes make it to
the dishwasher, that qualifies "put away" in my house!
Martha tells us she's already making homemade holiday gifts for friends.
"Last year, I made amazing silk-lined scarves for everyone," she boasts.
Just scarves, mind you. Amazing scarves. Martha's obviously not shy about
giving herself a little pat on the back. In fact, she does so with such
frequency that one has to wonder if her back is black and blue. She goes
on to tell us that "homemaking is glamour for the 90s" and says her most
glamorous friends are "interested in stain removal, how to iron a
monogram, and how to fold a towel."
I have one piece of advice, Martha: "Get new friends."
Glamorous friends fly to Paris on a whim. They drift past the Greek
Islands on yachts, sipping champagne from crystal goblets. They step out
for the evening in shimmering satin gowns, whisked away by tuxedoed
chauffeurs. They do not spend their days pondering the finer art of toilet
bowl sanitation.
Zaslow notes that Martha was named one of America's 25 most influential
people by Time magazine (nosing out Mother Theresa, Madeline Allbright and
Maya Angelou, no doubt).
The proof of Martha's influence: after she bought white-fleshed peaches in
the supermarket, Martha says, "People saw me buy them. In an instant, they
were all gone." I hope Martha never decides to jump off a bridge.
A guest in Martha's home told Zaslow how Martha gets up early to roller
blade with her dogs to pick fresh wild blackberries for breakfast. This
confirms what I've suspected about Martha all along: She's obviously got
too much time on her hands. Teaching the dogs to roller blade. What a show
off.
If you think the dogs are spoiled, listen to how Martha treats her
friends: She gave one friend all 272 books from the Knopf Everyman
Library. It didn't cost much. Pocket change, really. Just $5,000. But what
price friendship, right?
When asked if others should envy her, Martha replies, "Don't envy me. I'm
doing this because I'm a natural teacher. You shouldn't envy teachers. You
should listen to them." Zaslow must have slit a seam in Martha's ego at
point, because once the hot air came hissing out, it couldn't be held
back.
"Being an overachiever is nothing despicable. It is only admirable. Never
lower your standards," says Martha. And of her Web Page on the Internet,
Martha declares herself an "important presence" as she graciously helps
people organize their sad, tacky little lives.
There you have it, Santa. If there was ever someone who deserved a good
smack, it's Martha Stewart. But I bet I won't get my gift this year. You
probably want to smack her yourself!
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