BE CAREFUL OF WHAT YOU SAY

We built a house on the Connecticut shore in 1960-1961, completing it in April. This was a good size house with three bedrooms and two baths. My family consisted of me, my wife Pat and 2 children, Ken and Diane, aged 8 and 11. One morning shortly after moving in, simultaneously all four of us needed the use of a toilet. There was chaos. Pat said to me, Dave, I told you we should have 3 bathrooms. I shouted, Three baths?? I didn’t have an inside toilet until I was 10 years old! Little ears do listen! In July, after taking my son to camp in Otis, Massachusetts, we drove our daughter to camp in lower New Hampshire. I decided to take a country route which went through South Hadley, home of Mount Holyoke College. I was hoping to see a gentleman I had not seen in about 4 years. The gentleman named Romeo Grenier, owned a very successful pharmacy in Holyoke and had great desires to open a store on the Mt. Holyoke campus. As district manager I met him on two occasions to assess his new endeavor. He was very bright and exceptionally charming. I was able to arrange for complete financing. I often got reports from local management that the store was a huge success. Romeo was surprised to see us and had open arms for all. The store was unreal. It was a drug store inside a student center – books, cosmetics, health aids, a large fountain, etc. Romeo introduced us to a number of girls in the store. He claimed to know the first name of all 2000 students. My wife was agog. As we left, Romeo joined us in walking to the car. On the way he was telling us that he just returned from England. While there, as he walked along the brooks, he could hear Wadsworth. You couldn’t believe his line. In driving away, my wife said, Oh Dave, I wish you had culture like Romeo. Diane said, Mom, what do you expect of a man who didn’t have an inside toilet until he was 10?