David was telling our nine-year-old daughter about this at dinner tonight: when he was growing up in Palo Alto, he had a friend named Eddie. Eddie came from a somewhat rowdy family, David said; his parents kept guns in the house (this was the early 70s, so no big deal) and Eddie and his brothers were addicted to early Kung-Fu movies. Eddie's mom thought they spent too much time staring at the boob tube and was constantly harranguing them to turn it off. Eddie and his brothers and their friends ignored her....until the day when she appeared in the living room, shotgun in hand, took careful aim and blew the family TV to Kingdom Come. Eddie came to school the next day with his eyes still as big as saucers, David said. For the rest of the time David knew that family, Eddie's mom was held in awe.
I hold her awe today. Find out that woman's name, and let's erect a statue.