You can't believe much of anything the Prude says. Since childhood she has displayed a -- to be kind and gentle -- propensity for speaking half-truths, Or, less gently -- outright falsehoods.
I trace her behavior and expectation of entitlement back to her childhood.
I remember back when I was, oh, around 10 years old and the Prude was 7. She had her heart set on going to see Disney's Alice In Wonderland, and I was the only sibling around that day. You guessed it. She cried and cried until Dad gave in and directed me to cancel my baseball game with my buddies and take her to this dreadful movie.
So we walked the two miles from our house on Pine Street in Newport, NH to the movie theater on the town square. I held her hand as we approached the railroad crossing near the Flying A (with a halo hanging at the top of the "A") gas and propane company. After escorting her safely across the tracks we continued to the theater.
About 10 minutes into the movie, after she had eaten all of her candy and half of mine, she started crying she wanted to go home. Unable to stop her torturous sobbing, I surrendered and we left.
I tried everything I could think of to pacify her and end the flow of tears. Spent what was left of my paper delivery money on more candy and soda pop. Now down by Towle high school she began crying again. She wanted to go back.
I was successful in convincing the lady in the ticket office that the
It wasn't 15 minutes until she again began sobbing loudly that she wanted to go home.
And so we walked the two miles up Belnap Avenue hill and across Pine Street to our house. All I could do was sigh and accept the burden of being the older and wiser sibling.
And so -- the moral of this truthful experience is, whatever the Prude says is temporary, and to be taken with a grain of salt.
Omaha
