THEY SAY

The older I get, it seems more and more really old memories keep popping up in my mind. Maybe it's only a "life review", but some are such fun to think about. This morning I was reading a news article online when the term "actuarial" was used. Immediately I thought of my late step-father L.B.

My sister Jean and I adored him. He was brilliant, loving, and funny. He and I had a running joke about graduates of Texas A&M. You know, like "How many Aggies does it take to change a light bulb?" Whenever I heard a new Aggie joke (L.B. was a graduate of Texas A&M), I would call him long distance (no iPhones or free long distance fees back then either). As soon as he answered the telephone, I would launch into my latest joke, listen for him to bellow in laughter, and immediately hang up! 

Now for the "actuarial" memory prompt. L.B. always loved to get me in serious conversations regarding anything I thought newsworthy. We had no internet back then - this was the 1970s, I subscribed to Time, Psychology Today, and Cosmopolitan magazines. (Remember, I was a divorced single woman.)  These, and the nightly newscasts by the likes of  Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, were probably the sources of my news. 

Anyone remember this centerfold? The feminist movement was in full swing, and this was the first (I think) backlash against all of the female centerfolds. The late Burt Reynolds was not only noted for his good looks, but also for the fact that he was the devoted "boyfriend" of Dinah Shore, who was many years his senior. I guess that makes her one of the first female "cougars"! We single women applauded her.

My son Craig was a junior or senior in high school at the time. His Psychology/Sociology teacher, a Mrs. Youngblood, was curious to meet

me when he told her what magazines were in our home. Of course, I asked her over for dinner. I remember we had a lively discussion about Lenny Bruce - the most controversial comedian of the '50s and '60s. Think of Bill Maher and the trouble he gets into today over some of his words. Lenny Bruce was much worse, and extremely shocking for his time. He was arrested frequently on obscenity charges. If I remember correctly, I voiced my opposition to his comedy - as I have to Bill Maher's today. Of course, Craig was my teenage hippie at the time, so he disagreed with me about Bruce. Come to think of it, he disagrees with me about Maher today.

(Lenny Bruce Arrest in 1961)

L.B. loved to "bait" me when I got into one of my "intellectual" conversations with him. Inevitably he would ask me, "Now how do you know that, Marilyn?" And I would, inevitably, answer, "Well, they say.." and then quote some statistics I must have heard or read somewhere. He always got a big kick out of then asking me, "Who are these 'they' that you talk about?" Frustrated, I finally after years of being teased like this, came up with who "they" were. At that time the number one job to aim for in the business world was to be an "actuary". Aha! That's where most of the statistics I quoted were coming from. Too bad, that job is now listed as Number Six in the best jobs report. Best Jobs in the Business World

After that, I used to joke that when I grow up I want to be one of those "they say" people that folks quote.

That's my memory for today. At least until the next one pops up. You know, getting old can be kind of fun. Until the memories stop coming.

Peace and happy memories,

Marilyn