When
I was growing up in grammar school where I went, and in the
neighborhood
where I lived, kids called each
other
by their last names, at least the boys did.
Even
best friends did that. Not the girls, though. They were all
acquainted
on a first name basis.
The
boys—Hey, Sherwood, you get a new bike for Christmas?
Arnoldy,
you want to throw the football around
after
school?
Did
you hear that O'Toole's grandfather died?
And
the girls—Martha, I like what you’ve done with
your
hair.
Peggy
likes Bobby Kennedy. I saw them talking
on
the playground at recess today.
Kathy,
I’m inviting you to a party at my house next week.
Of
course the boys were changing friends all the time.
One
day you’d see Tilley all buddy, buddy with Fusz then
bad
mouthing him to Barron the next day.
And
then there would be fights on the way home from school
most
every day. Waldman and Stube are gonna get into it.
Stube
is gonna beat the shit outa Waldman. Betcha he is.
Hanch,
you wanna come and watch?
Last
names were always used by the boys to address
one
another,
but
they referred to the girls by their first—Christine is
sure
fine, but that Robin, she’s a dog.
Funny
place where I grew up and went to school. Kids never
stayed
friends for very long. Leastwise, the boys didn’t anyway.
Makes
a guy anxious to grow up and move away.
Today
I call all my friends by their first name.
Robert
doesn’t want to be called, Bob, though. And by me,
that’s
perfectly okay.
-30-
Chris
Hanch 3-11-2020
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