I WAS REARED ON A FARM

Today at lunch I observed a young woman wearing a hooded sweatshirt stating:  "YOU SAY 'RAISED IN A BARN' LIKE IT'S A BAD THING." My "Wild Bunch" Luncheon group and I then had a discussion about "raise" and "rear".  As I am abysmally ignorant about using my cell phone to take pictures, I asked Lee, one of my luncheon mates to take a picture if we would be permitted.

I summoned the hoodie-wearer to me and said, "Jacqueline, I was reared on a farm where we raised hogs." Naturally, she thought I was insane!  I asked for permission to take her picture, explained that I write a daily BLOG and thought she and her sweatshirt would make an interesting article.  She graciously consented to have her photograph taken and I told her I would send her the article.

I had a very pleasant conversation with her and her friend Caitlin.  I asked Jacqueline if she pronounced her name in the French, Jacqueline Kennedy way, and she said , "No, it's pronounced like Jack-lyn."  I asked Caitlin about the spelling of her name and I said, "Oh, good, that's how Dylan Thomas' wife Caitlin's was spelled."  She didn't know Dylan Thomas.

Caitlin said, "I bet you know my grandma."  When she told me her grandmother's name I said, "Oh, yes I do, but tell me, why would you automatically think I knew her?"  She said, "Oh, you just seem like someone who would know my grandma;  she knows a lot too." I said, "Yes, we're both very outgoing."

Jacqueline said, "You're too young to know my grandparents, but maybe you know my parents."

Oh, how sweet of her that she thought I wasn't old enough to know her grandparents!