Episode 10: You and Your Town
After my high school graduation, my parents were busting their buttons because I was the first in the family to go to college. That fall, they drove me to Athens, Ohio, where I would start classes at Ohio University. The journey was about four hours, and took us through winding country roads, and through what seemed like every small town in southern Ohio.
In one of these villages, a traffic jam had Papa’s car at a dead standstill. It was a narrow two-lane street, so the opposite traffic was directly across from our car. September can be very hot in southern Ohio, so all the windows were rolled down—our car certainly didn’t have air conditioning in 1956!
Papa, who had little patience when he thought the fates were acting against him, cursed in his native Italian, and was generally beside himself over the delay. In the car directly opposite ours, traveling in the opposite direction, a rather elderly little lady sat behind her wheel, patiently waiting to move forward. I seem to remember she looked at us, and smiled. Papa smiled back, and in his broken English, said to her, “eh ladee, thisa yu town?” She was probably expecting some nice word about her village, and answered, “Yes, yes it is.” Then with all his frustration ready to be unleashed, Papa leaned out his window and yelled to her, “Wella, poo! Go to hella you eh you town!”
I couldn’t believe what just happened! I slid as far down into the back seat as I possibly could, hoping the traffic would start moving again soon…
And that’s how my college days began!
