Editor's note: I'm in Fort Worth, Texas visiting Richard's webmaster, James Sanchez, so do not know if there is a new letter from him in my mailbox at home in Newhall, California. Brought this weeks chapter with me though and if I get any important news before next Sunday will send out a special report.
COLLEGE YEARS 3
The reason English comes easy for me is that my mother always used perfect English with my sister and me. And we of course were expected to do the same. Her sentences were always parsed precisely; we never heard the word 'ain't'.
"Look it up in the dictionary," she would say. "You will find lots of good words there."
She would add, "You are not ordinary. You are 'upper-class.' Always remember that. '
The truth was, we were the poorest family on the block. My psychotic father was on "relief." He could never hold a steady job. He argued always with his bosses. They won, naturally, in these stupid debates.
Anyway, my mother did her best to give us a good start in life. We did speak perfect English and we learned to read at an early age. (I remember teaching myself to read by studying the "funny papers" in the daily newspaper. As a result of all this I grew up knowing the difference between good English and street language. I adjusted quickly to University life.
We Veterans are held in awe by the faculty, many of whom had gone to war.
"Hey, Richard, have you got anything to read? I've got to go down to the basement wash room to watch over the laundromats. I don't want to leave clothes in the dryer. Someone will walk off with them."
"You bet, Harry. How about "The Count of Monte Cristo?" Still a great story and this is my third time reading it. I'm a literature nut. "Wait a minute. I'll come with my own laundry to do. Better learn how to do it here."
There are two large automatic washing machines, and one small dryer. Both are loaded and running.
"There's a clothes line out in back to dry your clothes. This little dryer will take forever."
"You know what, Harry, I know where there is a better laundry machine. Its out in town. It's in the back yard of a lady with three daughters who is a friend of my mother. Her name is Mrs. Smith. Let's go visit her this afternoon and take our laundry with us. She has one of the latest automatic washer dryers. You put dirty clothes in and take them out washed and dried and ready to fold."
Sounds good to Harry. Mrs. Smith lives about two blocks from the campus. An easy walk.
We bag up our dirty clothes and start to walk to Mrs. Smith's house. On the way I fill him in on who Mrs. Smith really is.
TO BE CONTINUED
Richard Keech
semper fi http://www.Richard-Keech.org
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