#6 - "Never say headache, allergies, or nervous."
Mom truly believed that you
are what you say, what you think, what you believe. Therefore, if you never
said, thought or believed you had a headache, or allergies, or were nervous,
then you weren't, or didn't (sorry about saying these words, mom.)
She not only believed this,
she lived it. She never said those words, and if they ever crept into my
vocabulary, she would quickly and enthusiastically shush me, as if I had just
uttered a profanity. I seem to recall that those words gained a lot of social traction
during the fifties and sixties. It was during this era that TV began
advertising Bayer aspirin and Alka-Seltzer; it became vogue for parents and
children to proudly declare that they had the "a" word; and I first
heard a furtive, and therefore intriguing reference to a "ner____
breakdown" in a movie. I had no idea what a headache, an allergy, or
nervous breakdown were, but I desperately wanted them.
The Alka-Seltzer ads really
made me want to try alcohol - the party scene, lots of laughter, lampshade on
the head - looked like fun to me, and when you felt bad later - just pop an
Alka-Seltzer into a glass of water, enjoy the bubbles, and in minutes you were
smiling again! But mother was never lured by those ads. I vividly recall that
104 degree fever and "death’s bed" being the only occasions when a half
of an aspirin might be called for. Now I justify taking aspirin by telling
myself it's good for my circulation. I don't take it for
"you-know-what."Click On Read More Below...
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