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Re: Truth, Knowledge, Power
John Pastore (venture@CANCUN.RCE.COM.MX)
Mon, 22 Apr 1996 13:32:48 +0000
On 22 Apr 96 at 9:43, karl h schwerin wrote:
... In
> most traditional societies daycare, when it occurred, was commonly
> performed by members of the extended family.
Hi Karl,
My day-care center was my Aunt Dot's kitchen, playroom and garden
where me and all my cousins (everyone on the block was related or
from the same small town in Italy) ate, played and, more or less,
grew-up. It wasn't official, we just gravitated there. She was a big
woman, who always dressed in black and wore orthopedic shoes, not
because she needed them, but because they were a good value. I
learned much later in life that she had been an orphan.
The only time I had ever seen her peeved at anything, was after her
watching a soap opera on t.v.. For some reason she turned to me and
said: "Wasza madder wid deeza women? Dey theenka amma estupid. I
bringa uppa nina kidz and they all gotta education. You theenk your
Uncle Jim waza estronga lika me? All he dida waza lay some brickz and
smoka the cigarz. And theeza a women dey try enna tella me I'm notta
a gooda women? When you grow-uppa Johnny-boy, you go to Italy en
getza yourselfa a women ova der. Theeza women here they gettin a
crazy!"
When years later, I asked my mother who she was going to vote for
between Ronald Regan and whoever it was, she said: "Your Aunt Dot!"
I asked why. She said: "Are you kidding? She had more sense than any
of these dopes. She brought up nine children. They all ate like
royalty, and they got there educations. And she did it all knowing
how to keep a budget balanced. She never owed anyone anything. These
men: "They're crazy!"
Well, as a case history, I just thought you might be interested...
Ka Xiik Keech Ya Utzil,
John Pastore
Writer/Guide in 'El Mayab'
("The Mayan Homeland")
venture@cancun.rce.com.mx
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