Sunday, March 17, 2013

Never Dare a Redhead

When my mother was a kid attending a 1-room schoolhouse, she was in a pageant or show put on for the parents.  Her part was to be a woman in a sewing circle, and the "ladies" in the circle each had lines that rhymed.  My mother's started thus:  "Mrs. Kay the other day had the audacity to say... 'tis a common supposition that one in her position...", and the gist of it was that someone had made an unkind reference to her age.  My mother's brother bet her A QUARTER(!) that she didn't have the nerve to change her lines.  

On the night of the show, he was standing on a chair against the wall opposite the performers when my mother looked him square in the eye and said what he'd bet her she didn't have the nerve to say:  "Mrs. Kay the other day had the audacity to say THAT MY FACE LOOKED LIKE IT WORE OUT THREE BODIES."