Kindergarten incident

One of my earliest memories is from kindergarten but before I get into that story I need to provide you a little background.  I was raised in a Catholic family and attended Nativity Catholic grade school.  Most of the teachers were nuns but there were also a few lay teachers and what they said was law.  Now I was a good kid and pretty quite but every kid gets in trouble now and then sometimes unintentionally.

So with that background here's my story. I was age 5 when I attended kindergarten.  I don’t remember my teachers name but she was a lay teacher not a nun.  As with all Catholic schools you started and ended school with a prayer sometimes standing by your desk other times we all stood together in the front of the room.  Kindergarten was only ½ day and I attended the morning session.  I like many kids was easily distracted so much so that I would wait to the last minute to ask to go to the bathroom.  So one day while we were have one of our prayer sessions I raised my hand to let the teacher know I had to go to the bathroom, she saw me but waved me off as if to say “Not Now” but I persisted by frantically waving my hand.  She again waved me off but this time she looked very annoyed that I persisted.  I now was dancing around like young boys do when they can’t hold it anymore however it made no difference, well you probably figured this out by now but since I couldn’t hold it and peed (urinate was not yet in my vocabulary) in my pants.

Now that was a little embarrassing but in al fairness I did try to give her fair warning which she ignored.  After the incident the teacher with great surprise asked, “Why didn’t you tell me you needed to go?”  Are you kidding me besides ignoring me didn’t she see me dancing around like MC Hammer (I know he came later but how do you think he learned to dance like that).  So I said, “I tried to ask but you didn’t let me” that was akin to pointing 2 fingers at my eyes then pointing back at her (saying I’m watching you).  So I was standing in a puddle of pee (I really had to go bad) but I luckily didn’t have to clean it up, maybe the teacher did (my bad).   When my mom came to pick me up the teacher then had to explain what happened then my mom ask me “Why didn’t you raise your hand” I again stated “I tried to ask but she didn’t let me” as if to say “Don’t mess with me”.

I don’t remember any repercussions from the teacher or my friends because of this incident but I do remember when any kid (especially me) raised their hand anytime in class they were immediately given proper attention.  Sometimes kids school the teacher.

Patient Stories

After about a year of retirement, spending many days enjoying the things that I had missed while working, I decided that it was the right time to volunteer somewhere.  I wanted to do something useful and interact with others.  I had a few other requirements such as the volunteer work needed to be fun and within a reasonable distance from my home.  I decided that volunteering at a hospital would be worth a try, so filled out an application at both BJC hospitals in St. Charles.  The process took a few months but I was accepted at both, then ask to choose what job I was interested in doing. 

One of the job choices at Progress West was called Patient Stories, which I immediately chose.  The job was to go talk to patients asking questions that would help me write a mini biography of their life.  It highlighted hobbies, careers, travel, education and other interesting stories and was just a fun way to interact with the patient and hopefully took their mind off of the medical problems.  Once I got the story I typed it up and presented them a few copies that they could take home and share with their family plus maybe expand upon later.  I really enjoyed chatting with the patients and I got the sense that most of them enjoyed the conversation as well plus I noticed that they were very appreciative when they received the typed version of their story. 

What I found most interesting is that some would state up front that they just had a normal life and their story would be boring but in reality that wasn’t the case.  Once I started asking questions the information flowed quickly and many times they would laugh while telling a story but I did intentionally ask a few silly questions just to lighten the mood.  It is fun to sit down with a stranger and just laugh at some of the real life stories they tell me and the more I laughed the more they did.  How often do you hear laughter coming from a hospital room?  I am more comfortable with interviewing patients than I was initially and because of that I am enjoying it even more.

I have heard personal stories about famous people (Elvis, Yogi Berra, Blues Hockey Team, Oprah, Prince Charles, Frank Sinatra, etc.), sad stories, inspiring stories, travel adventures and many funny stories plus I have learned about the inventive ways kids would entertain themselves, jobs they took as kids and their family life.

I have also found that the nurses enjoy reading the stories not because I write that well but because the patients have great life stories.  The key point of this article is that we all have good stories to tell some maybe great stories. Your stories need to be shared with your family and others so write them down and whenever you get a chance, listen to someone’s story you might be surprised how interesting it will be.

My belief is that in life after you've covered the basics it's not all about the money or status you’ve attained but the stories you leave behind.

Paper Route

     Back in the 60’s a lot of kids would have paper routes to earn extra money and learn responsibility.  It wasn’t like today where papers are delivered by small business owners.  Back then it was young kids that delivered newspapers.  The way it’s going with the Internet, daily newspapers could be a thing of the past in the near future. 

     I didn’t have a paper route myself but sometimes I would help out Frank B and John O with their paper route.  The route was in Walnut Park and they had specific customers but we had extra papers in case someone unexpected wanted one.  We had a wooded cart with two big steel wheels that carried the papers stacked vertically.  I'm sure you've seen some old movies possibly black & white movies where you saw a kid pushing or pulling a newspaper cart.  We pulled the cart around though the different neighborhoods delivering papers to the regular customers but we always had extra papers for the occasionally customers that would stop us on the route.

     Our last stop was always at Lombardo’s on Riverview and West Florissant to get a pizza.  Papers were delivered late at night so it was always a treat after delivering papers.  We went to the back door of Lombardo's to place our order and waited in the parking lot until it was ready. The pizza was hot & delicious, so hot that it would burn the roof over your mouth but still you couldn’t wait to bite into it.  I don’t remember what it cost but spending some of our profit didn’t bother us.  As I remember it seemed like the best pizza ever made, maybe it was or maybe it was just seemed like it at the time. 

     Memories are funny they make small moments in our life unique or special in some way which can never be relived because they wouldn’t be as special the 2^nd time around.  Did you ever see a movie when you were younger and you thought it was the best ever?  As an example “Billy Jack” was a breakout hit in the early 70's and young adults loved it but I am warning you don’t try to relive those memories by watching it today. Leave that alone it’s much better as a memory.

Women’s clothes versus men’s

Technology has provided us with some amazing inventions including the washer and dryer with many different washing selections such as delicate, gentle, color etc.  Prior to these our ancestors would use washboards even beating the clothes with sticks or on rocks to clean their laundry.  There was no gentle cycle on a rock or stick.

With all the selections on these high tech washers and dryers it would seem like every possibility would be covered and all clothes could be safely washed and dried without concern of damage. Yet, I’ve come to find out it is only true regarding men’s clothes (regardless of the label recommendations).  Generally, women’s clothing do not go in the dryer even if it’s made of the same material as men’s clothes.  Very few of my wife’s clothes go in the high tech dryer, they must be draped over chairs or laid carefully on the carpet to dry in order to keep the dreaded wrinkles from developing.   We do own multiple irons (also with many different settings), which I understand easily remove wrinkles.  I have used the iron on occasion mainly for dress shirts at least the part of the shirt that is visible to others, I mean really what’s the point of ironing the whole shirt if it’s covered by a jacket.   Being age 65, I have some wrinkles and I laid on the floor many times but that failed to remove any of my wrinkles so there's no way I'm going to drape myself over a chair or use an iron.  I'm not put off, scared or embarrassed by wrinkles so if you see a guy proudly walking around St. Charles in a wrinkled T-shirt it could be me.

I have always been told don’t mix colors and whites in the washer.  I understand and abide by this when the clothes are new but I’m confused because I would think that after a certain number of washes the colored clothes would no longer bleed on to the whites.  I’m not sure what that number is but I’m willing to take the chance with my clothes.  What’s the worst that could happen, well I might end up with a pink T-shirt instead of white but if anyone questions my color choice, I’ll just tell them it’s not pink it’s wrinkled salmon.  “Just Saying…..”