The little things

Is it just me, or does everyone remember odd little snippets from their childhood?  I sure do.  Then I get told about some huge event of which I should remember every last detail, and it's not even on my radar.

Very odd snippet examples:

I drove my brother Denny nuts.  I was the little sister.  That was my job.

For two years, we went to the same school.  Denny was a junior and senior in high school, I was in 4th and 5th grade.  He got to drive his car to school (I think it was the Chevy Vega), I had to take the bus - but for one time.  Denny was not happy about having to drive me.  He stopped to pick up Doc Cottingham, and I rode in the back seat, directly behind Denny.  I don't know why, but I decided it would be a good idea to shave the yellow-gold paint off of all my #2 pencils on the metal head of my clipboard.  Doc looked back, saw the paint shavings accumulating on the car floor and busted me.  Denny attempted to grab me by the neck and swerved all over the road.  I'm just glad I didn't cause an accident.  I can't imagine us explaining that one to Mom and Dad.

My sister used Dippity Do on her hair.  

Man, I loved the smell of that stuff.  She used to put that on her hair, flip the sides into curls and affix them to her cheeks with pink tape until they dried and set.  I thought that was just beyond cool.  

(Note:  The Depression made a huge impact on my parents and they never wasted anything, especially food.  Cereal boxes that were not properly closed or a roast that was the centerpiece for a 4th meal - you finished what was in the house before replacements were purchased, and cleaned your plate or went hungry.)
My parents, Denny and I were having chili one evening for dinner.  In an uncharacteristically courteous manner, Denny held out the saltine sleeve and very politely asked if I would care for a cracker.  I was stunned.  I sat there for a couple seconds and then took the last two saltines in the package.  That's when I realized they were so stale you could practically bend them, and Denny chuckled as he opened a new package.

I went to the grocery store one day with Mom and practically forced her to buy not one, but 3 cans of spinach.  I had never had it before, but if it was good enough for Popeye, it was good enough for me.  We returned home and she complied when I asked her to prepare a can for me.  I took one bite and was completely appalled.  What the heck??!!  Popeye was a lunatic for eating this garbage!!  Like always, no food was ever wasted.  I had to gag down that horrid can of wilted, slimy greens.  I don't know what happened to the other 2 cans.  I'm sure they were used in something.  But to this day I can't eat plain, cooked spinach.

There was a girl that lived around the corner from our dead-end road.  Kathy was a few years older than me, so we didn't hang out very much.  But I do remember one time, while we were walking down  the lane to my house, we saw buzzards circling overhead.  She grabbed my arm, told me to stop walking and stand very still or they would swoop down and attack us.  Buzzards circle for a long time, so who knows how long we stood there like frozen idiots.

When I was in third grade, we had some sort of lesson on dental care.  We all received a little kit with a toothbrush and a mini tube of toothpaste.  (I LOVED the miniature tube of toothpaste.  I don't think I ever used it, because it was too cool to open and spoil.)  During the lesson we were given little pink pills to chew.  The vibrant pink color "stuck" to the places on your teeth that were not thoroughly brushed and clean.  The kid sitting in front of me turned around and smiled.  He had the pinkest mouth I'd ever seen.  How gross!  Hopefully, he took the lesson to heart.

My sister, Joyce, and I shared a bedroom.  One day, she returned home from college, and her suitcase lay open on our bedroom floor.  Being curious about all the cool stuff she had carried home, I looked through her things.  I pointed to some large, white rectangular things and asked what they were.  She replied, "Napkins."

"Oh.  Can we use them at dinner?!"