By Edward Master
My wife would often (really just sometimes) remark that I displayed traits similar to my mother, as a compliment as opposed to being like my father as a derogatory criticism. Being like Mom always did seem complimentary. She showed patience most of the time and really wasn’t the type to have something done yesterday.
I can blame her for my interest in watching ‘old’ movies on the YouTube channel on the internet, not watching the internet, just the watching of ‘old’ movies. Right now I’m in the midst of viewing ‘Charlie Chan’, both ones starring Gilbert Toland and Warner Oland. The odd thing about these films was that neither of these actors was Asian (Chinese). But that was old-time Hollywood.
I guess I started the classic movie thing during the summer after I graduated from high School, in 1967. I was working shift at the Knox glass plant in Knox. Delores Best (Warp) was a neighbor, married to a childhood friend of my father, Ivan Best (Bones). Warp happened to remark that the glass plant was hiring summer help. I applied and my first shift was on a Friday night four to 12. While my friends went to an outside dance at the Emlenton swimming pool, I learned to put “filler” in boxes that would eventually contain glass bottles for Old German style beer. I rationalized, hey, this was earning money for college.
I returned home from the shift after midnight. This shift lasted a week. Mom would either be up or at least half awake. Ergo, the TV was on and often a channel would be showing an old movie. That’s when I first started to appreciate “The Postman Always Rings Twice”, starring John Garfield and maybe Lana Turner. Oddly enough, in years later, my wife and I walked out of the remake starring Jack Nicholson as neither of us cared for the redo.
Mom and I probably saw a western or two, along with WW II action dramas. I was bitten/smitten for life with the old flicks. I once used the facilities of a Blockbuster in Glassboro, NJ, to watch a series of Marilyn Monroe films. Not long ago, I repeated a collection of Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce in Sherlock Holmes cinema classics on YouTube. That too, I had already done via Blockbuster.
Mom also passed along the habit of toasted bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches with a liberal helping of mayo for a meal. She loved to top that lunch with a slice of pie, often lemon merengue. I’ve carried the BLT since, but I’ve been more of an assorted pie person.
I attribute another of Mom’s food stuff habits to one I developed in college. Before attending Clarion University, I was mostly a hamburger with either ketchup or mustard (Heinz catsup(?) when possible, thank you), but at CSC we had Chandler dining hall, and for lunch we often had the opportunity for multi-burgers. This is where I made the switch to Mom’s California-style burger: lettuce, tomato, and the dollup of mayo. She returned from Marine Corps duty in the Golden Bear state with this tasty morsel. I’ve been a fan ever since. I suppose that’s why I’ve been partial to Whoppers and the like.
I suppose I could write of a laundry list of Mom’s habits I inherited, even the recipes. For years, I made her chili, but I left my wife copy her canned pickles (with substantial amounts of onion, the best I ever had).
Speaking of sports
Well, it seems the Pirates have tanked. Wait until next year. Never thought the Steelers would get by the Falcons.
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