farmdoc's blog post number 40

I have never taken kindly to authority figures. And I often wonder why. Until age 13 I lived in a household with my maternal grandparents, my parents and my sister. I remember my grandfather as a stern man with rigid principles and routines; and my grandmother and parents as gentle and, I suspect, repressed and compliant. Because my grandfather dominated the household, I could blame him for my authority figure aversion. But he adored me as his first grandson, or so I felt. And I loved him back, difficult as this was because he was verbally and physically undemonstrative. Perhaps I rebelled against his authority because he suppressed my parents. I doubt I’ll ever know, because I don’t intend to undergo psychotherapy or psychoanalysis. Anyway I detested the police in Albert Park especially when they removed their name badges before arresting my friends and me; I object to judges in court pontificating on medical matters and often dismissing expert medical evidence; and I have been much happier since I became self employed in 1987. Then last Monday the newly appointed manager of my local bank branch questioned my perfectly legal power of attorney document. Impressed I was not. Yet despite all this, in my work I am an authority figure. You have my authority to figure all this out. Because I cannot.