Moving

oving is such a joy. My sincerity level waivers on that statement at times, but overall moving is a great chance to clean and clear out. In the interest of efficiency, I have been doing my best to not get sucked down memory lane by going through photo albums or old letters.

However, yesterday I came across a sheet of stickers with a bunch of writing on the back and I flashed back to my time teaching in Mississippi and couldn't help but laugh and marvel at how much my life has transformed since then.

Let me give you the back drop. As a teacher, I always wore an old waitressing apron so that I could have extra pockets at all times...I know super sexy, right? Anyway, I would carry stickers, pens and hand sanitizer for good measure. When I was with my class out of the classroom and needed to remember who was actin' a fool, I would jot names on the back of a sticker sheet. The sticker sheet I came across while packing had lots of names haphazardly scrawled in all directions. But here is the part that really had me laughing. The Delta had a wonderful vernacular and I loved some of the local phrases, which I would jot down to remember. This Delta flavor was particularly strong when it came to the insults the kids would throw at each other. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't encouraging insults, but I had to write this one down. I remember on this hallway adventure there was an escalation...it all started with a "Shut your face," which quickly was topped with "No, you shut your mama's face."

Just as a point of reference, the only insult worse is to say "your grandma" or "your grandpa," depending on which is deceased. Family pride is not something to mess with in the Delta. I have never seen little people as mad as when their families were brought into the mix.

I just had a moment when I thought, "I wonder what would happen if I used 'shut your mama's face' in the corporate world...Hmm..." Don't worry, today may be my last day on the job, but I'm not going there!