Mad World Mods (madworldmods) wrote in madworldrp, @ 2007-10-24 22:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | hannah jo boardman, veronica smethley |
RP: HannahJo and Ronnie
LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY liondrops)
who → HannahJo and Ronnie
what → greenhouse meeting. Ronnie explains things that are 'odd' to HannahJo
when → Wednesday Evening
where → The Greenhouses
status → Incomplete
HannahJo hated people sometimes. Persons, she loved lots of individual persons and was hard pressed to hate any of them, but collectively? She hated people. She couldn't wrap her mind around 'people politics' and why 'political correctness' mattered. So she stalked off to the greenhouses, more aggravated than upset. Singing always helped though, and since she was going to be planting strawberries, she started humming, then singing, Strawberry Fields, "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see. It's getting hard to be someone but it all works out, it doesn't matter much to me." Her voice was slightly off key, but the lyrics were there. She was just too absorbed to think about what they might mean. She was planting strawberries after all.
She had shucked her coat, tie, robes, and shoes, and was standing in the warm, climate controlled greenhouse, barefoot, dancing to the lyrics in her head as she worked on setting up the strawberry trays. She sang the final verse, her voice trailing off, "Strawberry fields ... forev ... er ..." as she heard the door open. She turned to see Veronica, and unsure of how long Veronica had heard her singing (which wasn't altogether terrible, just slightly off key as she hadn't had practice), she blushed.
"Hi," she said, somewhat shyly.
"Hello!" Veronica said cheerfully, smiling. "You're singing was quite lovely! Though I must say it's not very hygienic to walk around a greenhouse in one's bare feet, but to each his own!"
Veronica wasn't an easily offended person. She never had been. The only thing that REALLY offended her was germs and the ignorant passing of them, and it seemed that even that, lately, had been unable to wipe the smile off of her face that had been plastered there for more than a week (with much MUCH thanks to Peter, of course). The comments Hannah had made she understood to be 'unaware' more than intentionally rude, because Hannah was too sweet (and perhaps young) to properly understand that there was a tactful way to make an uninformed comment.
And, of course, Veronica was always happy to answer questions. She never really talking much about her mother's religion. There were other Jewish people at Hogwarts, of course, but in the grand scheme far more focus was paid to Christmas, and the observations of Christian holidays.
"It's just dirt," HannahJo said, shrugging, gesturing to the table with the tray set up. "D'you want to help at all? It's a different soil than my kiwi soil, but I think it should work, but if it doesn't, I think I'll need to know what I need to do differently!"
She bounced on her feet a few times, her good mood back. But she still was a bit shy about asking questions and offending Veronica with them, so she tentatively asked, "So ... if it's an old law, why don't you eat pork?"
Tact was not HannahJo's strong suit.
"Oh, no, I would, but I'm not very comfortable with dirt.." Veronica said apologetically. Some habits died hard. "Sorry!"
She smiled slightly. "Well old doesn't mean it shouldn't be done," she started slowly. "Tradition and necessity aren't mutually exclusive concepts. In the time of the old testament pork wasn't eaten because it couldn't be prepared as a kosher food, which is the Jewish way of eating. Pigs were considered dirty animals, and when they're not cooked and stored properly, the meat can be deadly and can spread bacteria. And because it was God's word, and God's way of protecting his people, then we continue to observe the tradition today despite the fact we can eat it and not get tapeworms. But not all sects of Judaism observe it. Some eat pork. It all depends."
"Reform Jews," HannahJo nodded, brushing past the comment about dirt- how could someone NOT be comfortable with dirt?! That was odd as well, but seeing as she got in trouble by even saying it, she thought it might be best to leave it alone. Perhaps she was learning a bit of tact as she went.
"They don't keep kosher, cos they eat bacon and stuff. So, you're only a half-Jew then? How does that work?" HannahJo asked, brushing hair from her face, leaving streaks of dirt. She wasn't close to being down with her strawberries- she still had to mix the soil, then water it, then plant the seeds, then water them. All in all, a long process. And since she was using magical components, she wanted to be extra careful.
Veronica perched herself carefully on a stool. "Well, my mum is Jewish and my Daddy is a Christian. Since they're both magic I've always had exposure to this world, but they didn't want me to lose my muggle history either. So they gave me the opportunity to experience Christianity and Judasim. That way I know the histories and focuses of both religions and am able to respect and follow them to my own understanding. Like not eating pork, but celebrating the birth of Christ."
HannahJo nodded, "I mean, I grew up in the Muggle world, Protestant, but I had a friend in primary who was Jewish and she taught me a song called 'Dreidle dreidle' and it was fun and now I never talk to her cos I found out I got to come here and ... I don't hang out with many of my friends from primary now that I'm here. Even though I grew up Muggle. At least my sisters are lucky that they don't have to think they're odd all the time growing up."
Soil: watered. Seeds: about to go in. HannahJo's tangent: just getting started.
"I think that kids will think themselves odd as they grow up, whether they're magic or not," Veronica said thoughtfully. "We all have our quirks and habits, but it's that sort of thinking and personality that makes us the people we are, and that makes the world such a wonderfully diverse place. If we'd been meant to be cookie cuttered then God would have made us exactly the same."
"Exactly!" HannahJo exclaimed. "And then which sameness would we be? What if we were all like me? Or all like Stubby? Or Danger? I think it'd be a scary world if were all the same. I don't think the world can handle too much of me and I wouldn't want them too, cos how can I make a difference if everyone is doing the same thing and growing things like me and being all like Norman Borlaug? He's my personal hero, you know. I think he saved the life of India. But some people who don't like him say that it's just about food distribution, but I'd like to think he saved all those lives, cos he made food easier to grow and that's what I want to do, so I hope these strawberries work, my kiwis did, but that was fall fruit, and strawberries aren't fall fruit at all, but at least it's climate controlled in here and very warm."
She took a breath to fill her holes with seeds, counting carefully.