The TA path to oral, anal and phallic...

It all happened at a talk on FTAs (free trade agreements). I was invited to the building next to my office to hear a Costa Rican talk on how they fought a FTA with the US which would have been anti-farmer, anti-this and anti-that and would help the big bad wolf devour Costa Rica's market. But before the Costa Rican got started, mine host held forth -

"Hi! Its so nice to see young faces here. And some of you may not know but P and I go way back. We are both from TA families. We've known each other some 35 years. Those days there was no A/C in trains or mobile phones but we had the energy...."

You know the drivel that such folks spout. Then she went on, "In fact P's family are also into TA. Her husband is a wonderful person. Some day you should get her to talk about their love story. Anyway their children have been married in the TA tradition. Oh, perhaps some of you don't know what TA is. I should explain. Ah, S do you remember when we went...?"

And that was the end any TA talk. After the Costa Rican finished on FTAs, mine host invited this really old, frail man - a priest to talk. "I want to take a good look around," He literally did so, slowly turning in a circle and staring at all of us. "And I see all this young bright faces. I would like to ask to think about what you heard today. Are you going home after this and watching the TV or are you going to work for something worthwhile, dedicate yourself to the service of society and forget about making money and having a comfortable life. Close your eyes for a minute and think deeply about this,".

At which point everyone obediently closed their eyes except me and this Columbian woman who were trying hard not to snigger. The old fart was so full of it! So patronising. Grrr. As if we are all shallow creature flitting aimlessly from one transient pleasure to another. And even if we were, that's our life and our problem. Stop being holier than thou.

I haven't forgotten about TA.

According to Wiki, TA stands for Transactional Analysis. I quote, "....is an integrative approach to the theory of psychology and psychotherapy. Integrative because it has elements of psychoanalytic, humanist and cognitive approaches. It was developed by Canadian-born US psychiatrist Eric Berne during the late 1950s". And, "TA is a theory of personality and a systematic psychotherapy for personal growth and personal change. It offers a theory for child development, where it ties in very neatly with the Freudian developmental stages -oral, anal, phallic,".

Very deep and socially uplifting, I'm sure.