Taken by Surprise: The Moth Podcast

The Moth

This episode of The Moth features two powerful stories about unexpected moments of shock and surprise. Susan Rohde recounts her astonishment when her

Key takeaways

• Foster children often make decisions beyond their years to cope with emotional emptiness and trauma.

Main topics

• Foster care experiences
• Parental separation and emotional distance

Notable quotes

If an electric toothbrush and a water pick can fill that void for just a couple hours, it's a decision well made. By her. Not me.

Conclusion

These stories highlight the profound emotional impact of surprise—both in joyful,

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:02) Welcome to the Moth. I'm Mark Salinger. Whenever I'm surprised, I make this sort of... Well, the face I make is halfway between a groundhog and a ferret. I sort of wrinkle my nose and give out this weird intake of breath that makes me sound like a character Zach Galifianakis would play in a cringe comedy. I have absolutely no idea why I do it, and suffice it to say, I am not that good at poker. But, even though I do look like an absolute weirdo, Even though some surprises can be awful, on balance, I enjoy being surprised. I think it's the only way your life can change. So, on this episode, two stories about two very different kinds of shock and surprise, both positive and negative. First, sticker shock. This is from Susan Rohde, who told it at a Chicago Grand Slam where the theme was deal breakers. Here's Susan, live at the Moth. Speaker 1 (1:07) So Annie is nine years old, and she is bright and talented and so independent. Her and her six-year-old brother have been living with my husband and I the last year and a half in a temporary foster family situation, and it has been quite the adventure. Last month, Annie asked if she could get a bird. Well, that's a hard no. Speaker 1 (1:37) I am more afraid of birds than I am anything else in the entire world. And I was surprised she took the no as well as she did. And then the next day, Amazon delivered a bird cage. cover for the bird cage, a bird hammock, a bird swing, a bird bed, a bird water dish, a bird water dispenser, bird food, bird toys, everything for this bird to live its best life in Forest Park. And I was so angry. And I started towards her room. She knows better than this. And then I remembered, Susan, you know better than this. Foster kids sometimes don't get all the guidance that they should get and sometimes have to make decisions and carry out those decisions that nine-year-olds shouldn't be making. Speaker 1 (2:43) So yes, it was my job to guide her and to teach her, and that made it easier for me to go in and say, Annie, we need to return everything, everything. Number two, I'm taking Amazon off your phone, but I'm dying to know, where were you going to get a bird? I don't think Amazon sells birds. And what I thought was a wry smile of, oh, I didn't think of that, really meant, just wait. And the next day, Amazon delivered a wild bird trap. Impressive, right? Later, I bought the six-year-old a water pick. That sounds goofy, but he's got cavities already, and I'm really worried I thought this would help his dental hygiene, and I already knew I couldn't bring that home unless I had something for Annie So I bought special adapters so they could all use the water pick and I made the mistake of telling Speaker 1 (4:14) Mark, the six-year-old, that this was his. And Annie couldn't stand it. She just lost it. And I spent so much time illogically using logic to help her understand that she could use the adapter as well, and we would all live happily ever after. And she wasn't buying any of it. And the next day, Amazon delivered a