This is an anecdote that is centred around an exceptionally worthy or innocent person, usually the speaker's grandmother, in an attempt to illicit more sympathy than the story would otherwise manage (usually in response to environmentally or socially progressive change). It often also comes with the description of a physical ailment or past injustice to amplify the sympathy response.
Examples:
In response to a suggestion that reducing access to a street for motor vehicles will make it safer for pedestrians, reduce air pollution and encourage more walking and cycling: "But I need to drive down that street regularly to take my gran to her hospital appointments, which she needs me to do due to her bad knee"
In response to a proposal to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy: "My granny got rid of her gas boiler, and now has to pay more to heat her tiny, draughty one bed flat, after working and paying her taxes for 50 years!"
When they hear that trans women may use women's toilets: "My nan was terrified the other day when she was talking a dump in the toilet at Marks & Spencer, when she realised that the person having a pee in the next door cubicle might have a hairer chin than her. What a way to treat a cancer survivor!'
Examples:
In response to a suggestion that reducing access to a street for motor vehicles will make it safer for pedestrians, reduce air pollution and encourage more walking and cycling: "But I need to drive down that street regularly to take my gran to her hospital appointments, which she needs me to do due to her bad knee"
In response to a proposal to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy: "My granny got rid of her gas boiler, and now has to pay more to heat her tiny, draughty one bed flat, after working and paying her taxes for 50 years!"
When they hear that trans women may use women's toilets: "My nan was terrified the other day when she was talking a dump in the toilet at Marks & Spencer, when she realised that the person having a pee in the next door cubicle might have a hairer chin than her. What a way to treat a cancer survivor!'
"I have presented lots of evidence of why this change is necessary and positive, but all you have in response are a couple of disconnected granecdotes"
by Fraggle_crock January 16, 2024