We have a few mamas on the TJMS crew, and they carry a heavy load. You can imagine how much work is required when you work for the hardest working man in radio. Added to that, they’ve got husbands, kids, parents, in-laws and pets all demanding something from them. Sometimes I see that they’re pushed to the limit, and I don’t like it. When they’re stressed out, everybody feels it, including me. And as the old saying goes, “If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.”
Years ago, a wise mama I know wanted to go on a trip to Las Vegas with her girls, but couldn’t figure out a way to legitimately get out of the house. She had obligations to her man and to her son, and no one wanted to make the sacrifice she so needed and deserved. So, she did something that I recommend to mothers everywhere: She played crazy. For just one moment, she lost her mind. She yelled, she cussed, she slammed things down, and when she got finished, her loved ones practically escorted her out the house and to her car. Whatever she wanted that day, she could have gotten.
Playing the crazy card is practically foolproof. Note that I said PRACTICALLY. Like the race card, the sex card and the Big Joker, playing these cards takes some forethought and finesse. When you play them without looking at the big picture and strategizing the outcome or whether the timing is right, you’ve wasted a perfectly good opportunity to do something that will be meaningful and beneficial. When you don’t follow these rules, you just make a fool out of yourself.
1. You have to choose your battles carefully, mamas. And you have to make sure all the necessary parties are there to see or hear your performance.
2. You have to make sure what you’re trying to achieve is worthy of using your crazy card. Don’t waste it on something like wanting to watch a show on BET when that show will be repeated 17 more times.
3. And here’s the most important rule of all. Don’t play the crazy card too often. If you’re going around hollering and screaming all the time, first of all, you may really be crazy and secondly, it loses its effect.
What you want here is shock value. Your mate and children should literally be shaking, and their mouths should be hanging open. They should be trying to figure out what they can do as a unit to ensure that they will never see you act like this again. They should lie awake that night playing the scene over and over in their heads. It should be marked on their calendars: “The day Mama went crazy.”
Oh, when done right, it’s a beautiful thing for everyone because Mama will be perfectly happy — free to leave town, go get a pedicure, soak in the tub uninterrupted or to do whatever the heck she pleases, or to get her family to do whatever the heck she wants them to do.
If you’ve played the crazy card – knowingly pretended to lose your mind to get something you wanted from your family – or you’ve seen it from your mom, grandma, auntie or sister, holla at me on BlackAmericaWeb, Facebook, Twitter, the phone or text me at OhOhOh (646464).
