Saturday, September 6, 2014

Oh hell, why not?

This morning, I am feeling a bit--hmm...Sassy! :)
So here goes!  --You may think of this as pure fiction if you wish.  It will be good reading.
In the small town of Wishington there are many little social groups.  This is probably true of any small town.  This is really the only one that Suzanne had ever lived in so she really did not know about other small towns.
Nope.  Only Wishington.
Suzanne had grown up with this social structure all around her.  It was no mystery.
If your dad was a doctor, lawyer, or successful business person, your parents would fit into a particular social group.
If your dad was a state trooper, electrician, plumber, teacher, etc.  Your parents would fit into another group.
This is, in all likelihood, true of many many places--all around the world.  Really, it made no difference to the children, b/c for the most part, children just made friends.  Suzanne had friends from several of the different strata and social groups, so she knew about these groupings, but she did
not have to live by it.
One weekend she might spend the night in a giant house cleaned by a maid, another weekend she might spend the night in a small brick, ranch style house, just like her own.
There was, however, a distinct memory in her head of children who very much knew about the proper grouping of people, and abided by this.  They hung together, almost exclusively, until one or two of them might get shipped off (in high school) to some private school in Virginia.
There was another {VIP} group of people who were called "from heres" , and these people were quite self-important.  If you were "from here"  it meant that some ancestor was a general in the civil war, or they at supper with George Washington.  You know, it was not enough to be "from here" and be from down the road on a farm.  Oh no, "from here" to this group meant --from the {VIP} stock of folks.  Get it?  yeah...blue blood and all that.
There were all kinds of other observations that Suzanne made all along...
Die hard alliegance to particular universities (no matter which ones )--that seemed very contrived to Suzanne...including ridiculing people who enjoyed other teams equally..??  and arguing with those who were equally die hard about some other colors, was also a part of the social code.  Suzanne's parents never participated in any of that, so she simply did not understand it...
So when Suzanne left Wishington as a fresh eighteen year old--it was quite a blow to discover that people did not walk around waving to one another in other places!
It was quite a blow not to be able to just charge things to her dad at the drug store.
AT THE SAME TIME--Suzanne discovered that it was fun to make friends to whom none of that stuff written above mattered! Whew!  What?? You just like people when you meet them and they are nice, no need to ponder what their Dad does?  No need to ponder which Regiment of General Lee's army their Great somebody fought in???
ohhh...this was refreshing.
So, Suzanne spent twelve or so years living in the world in which one could be anonymous.  One could make friends based on simply enjoying the same band, or being in the same place at the same time! WOW.  Twelve years of growing up.  Twelve years of just being.
Then came the day that the {idea} of Wishington came slipping and creeping back into Suzanne's mind.
...stay tuned for more. :)

2 comments:

Melissa said...

I like this! Your town sounds like a book! I hope you saw my comment and my blog from last night!

Bethany said...

Oh my gosh, you had me snorting and giggling from the start - "ate dinner with George Washington!" Three cheers for anonymity! These days I call them "friends of substance" - the ones you CHOOSE to be friends with, just because you like them... what an {enlightened} idea...

Spot on!

Spot is our family's chihuahua.  He is what we call, "an evil dictator/stuffed animal come to life".  Sometimes, after he has ...