The Sidney herald., 1958-06-25
BY YNGvAR

WANT ASCs e III your water COST
a dime extra" There was n,
pause between her analysis o
dogs and the price of ice.
"A gallon with ice," l said
The little old lady trotted of
to the rear and soon returnet
with the jug full of water. Ic,
chunks choked the neck of tn
jug.
The big dog made a humping
sound as its wagging tail strucl
the end of the desk. 1t sauntereC
over and shifted at a half-eater
sandwich on the floor.
DO you serve snacks here
too?" my wife asked.
I'm a way I guess you can say
| do" said the lady. "See tina
refrigerator" Her hand indicat
ed a dirty white monster in the
corner. every morning tina
thing is near full of peem-buttel
sanwidges. Bake my own bread
too. Homemade bread n peem-
butter sanwidges stick to the
ribs longer'n boughten bread"
Her account was interrupted
by a red convertible that streakeo
by on the highway, its horns
screaming.
Don't SELL no food here, I'M
derstan' just GIVE it away
l just can't stand to hear kids a.
howlin' cuz they're hungry. An
Lord knows, they's plenty of 'em
Stoppin' here with hungry kids
She picked up the half-eaten
sandwich and threw it out the
door.
Remember that book that was
wrote about the last depression,
Well, l could write a book too,
jus from what l see here. It's
the same deal - people either
got laid off and sold their last
to raise the t~ravelin' ante to go
to California, or else they figured
they'd GET laid off and wanted
to be in California before the
rest of the world got there"
l dug into my pocket and laid
35 cents on the desk. The little
lady ignored the cash and con-
tinued her dirge.
"Wisht you could stay here JUS
one day" she remarked. "See
for yourself how ears come in
here - most of 'em never buy
nuthin'. Kids pile out and streak
for the can; then they come in
and want water, or start moanin'
cuz' they're hungry. An the men
start dickerin' for a swap - JUS
like tradin' a tire for a thankful of
gas wuz the hottest deal a-goin'.
OF all the hard-luck stories I
hear every day, l could write
one book a month, and none of
'em would be the same"
Water with ice was 35 cents,
wasn't it, l interrupted.
"Ya oughta see some of them
people drivin' swell cars
but they amt got the money to
run 'em. va ought to see 'em
strip down their loads and swap
what they figure they don't need
for stuff they DO need - and
that's gas, mostly. IN all the time,
the kids is wearin' a rut out to
the cans. Sure glad I amt got the
indoor kind! I'd go broke a.
payin' the water bill"
I inferred I'd like nothing bet
ter than to hang around all day,
but we had to be on our way.
The assertion seemed to break
her train of thought.
"By the way, mister, how's
your fan belt"
Il guess it's okay," I said.
you GUESS it's okayI Listen,
mister, this is one place where
it's best to leave guessin' games
to crossword fansl"
Her sudden outburst left me
cropping for a comeback.
What kinda car va got?" she
asked, as she shuffled over to the
pile of fan belt cartons.
"'51 Plymouth l told her.
Hmm 81 Plymouth, Ell?
va got 'er paid for an va amt
hurtin'. va maybe amt got a
mint, but va amt hurtin'." Before
l could counter with an appro-
pirate remark she was back in
the fan belt business.
'Just want you to know, mis-
ter, these belts is NEW Il
course I got a heap of junk here
what amt new, but these belts
IS new . guarantee va that"
"Td need a wrench to put that
belt on" | defended.
Crescent wrench? What size?"
bout a 10-inch," / said.
Got n here someplace," she
said. Cost va a buck fella
traded it off for gas jus the other
day."
Good shape?" A buck was a
"Sure is, mister fella bound
for California got rid of it," She
shook her head. Everybody goin'
to California. Where'nell they
gonna put 'em alp"
well, I"
"You don't know where they're
gonna put 'em, and neither do L."
she answered. "And fore long II
aine gonna know where to put
all this junk" With a deft move
nent she uncovered an assort-
nent of odds and ends.
give got over a hundred bucks
worth of gas tied up in that pile,