But Mama always had a story to tell, life lessons that her mama had passed on to her and her siblings.
My mama would often quote her mama and would begin whatever she was saying to me and my five older siblings with an experience, tales of old, things that happened in her upcomings.
As a youth growing up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, my father was the exact opposite. He would never speak of things from his childhood. But Mama always had a story to tell, life lessons that her mama had passed on to her and her siblings.
One of her most-used sayings was, “You reap what you sow!” I later learned that’s a direct quote from the scriptures. A lot of people would simply say, “What goes around comes around,” or vice versa. Another saying was, “That’s what you get,” or, “If you get hit by a car, don’t come running to me!”
And one of their all-time favorites: “God don’t like ugly.” To which I would respond sarcastically, “And He ain’t too crazy about pretty either.” That usually led to: “Say one more thing, or say another word, and I’m going to slap the piss out of you!” Back in the sixties and seventies, a parent could say and do just that without any recourse. I often wondered how hard you’d have to slap someone for them to lose their bowel movement.
Here’s another favorite threat she used: “I wish you would do something I told you not to.” As in, “I wanna be glad to give your butt a beating.”
This one is a classic: “A hard head makes a soft ass.” These are all of their precise words. Remember, these are quotes, not my own.
Each saying had a story behind it, but if I told them all, these pages would be endless.
Here’s one: “Don’t sweep over my feet with that broom, because you’ll give me bad luck.” Or: “Don’t open that umbrella in the house. If you do, you’ll have to throw salt over your shoulders.” Here’s a goodie: “My right hand is itching—I must be about to get some money.” I still use that one myself.
Who can forget: “When it rains, it pours.” Or: “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.” And: “If you play with fire, you’re bound to get burnt.”
This was one of my favorites: “Just because you’re ugly don’t make you bad.” Every one of these sayings literally had a story behind it.
I often wondered what my life would be like if I hadn’t been lucky enough to grow up under such threats or old sayings to guide my thought pattern. Would I be a genuine man, or a maniac? Who really knows or can say exactly what the outcome would’ve been?
But Mama always said what her mama would say.
