Mary vs. the Bully
Mary (at about the age she took on cussing out the neighborhood bully) sits second from left. Other Pick siblings in this picture are L to R: Richard, Baby Connie, David, Barbara, and Joan.
We had a neighbor boy who was a bully. He hit Barbara on the head with a shovel in a sand pile where a basement was being dug for a new house two lots west of us. The cut required stitches. About that time, Uncle Frank, doing some work on our house for Dad, came to our rescue. He told us to yell 'du bist ein esel' at the boy when he got mean.
It felt so good hollering 'du bist ein esel, du bist ein esel' at Robert Parker over and over...revenge at its best. Only recently did we find out the translation isn't necessarily 'you are a jackass' as we thought, but instead 'you are a donkey'! Does make for a good story though.
It was this same neighborhood bully, Robert Parker, to whom I had to apologize for calling a 'big shit’. On this particular day, a warm summer morning, he was being his usual mean self to me. I was with David, Joan, and Barbara and was about 7 years old. The words shot out of my mouth before I realized our beloved housekeeper, Mary Steichen, was taking in the whole scenario from our backyard. Of course, she heard 'big shit' loud and clear and reported it to my dad upon his return from a call.
Dad took me by the hand and marched me up the street to the Parker's, who lived on the corner west of us, to say I was sorry. I said it but didn't mean it...at all. Dad frowned upon cussing and swearing by his children but was known to let one slip himself once in a while. (NEVER did I hear our mother do either.) For the most part, I swore off further cussing and swearing (especially 'shit') but unfortunately, it didn't last.
