Yes Sir, No mam True Story People ask me Tony, I always hear you say yes Sir, No Mam etc. Young or old, I always hear you say that why? I will tell you, when I was a kid growing up in Boston we were always trying to make a buck. We shoveled snow, had paper routes and we had people on our street that we would cut their lawns and trim their bushes. Each one of us had our own houses that we would do every week. I had a woman named Mrs. Smith, she was the only African American on our street. Mrs. Smith came from the South and had a Southern charm that was just lovely. Mrs. Smith also had the biggest house on Zamora Street in JP. She was a nurse and worked for the United Way in her spare time. I would cut her lawn with a push lawn cutter, rake and sweep up. I was paid a dollar or two every week. That was big money at the time for a young kid growing up. Mrs. Smith was great, I could play in her side yard, dig my "Baits" as she would call them, so I could go fishing at Jamaica Pond , build my forte and anything else I could possibly imagine to do there. The other side yard was lovely and was to be kept clean. I was not allowed to play there. Mrs. Smith taught me work ethics as a young lad. If I did not do a good enough job she would march down to my house and make me go back an do it right. Well, I thought Mrs. Smith did not like me very much since she was always making me do the work over again, that was not the case as I would come to understand. One day she came back to get me again and I was upset that I had to go back on a Saturday to do the work over again, so I said, Hay! calling her by her first name, before I could get one more word out of my mouth, I had a hand across it. A slap I will never forget. How dare you call and elder by their first name I was told! It is Mrs. Smith or yes Sir, No Mam. That stuck in my head ever since. Mrs. Smith told me, Anthony when you are asked to do a job, no matter how hard or difficult , do the job right. You will thank me one day. Mrs. Smith taught me a great deal growing up. Believe me, I was a troubled lad in my youth. I was always in some sort of trouble. She took me under her wing. I believe this lovely woman and my Grand Mother taught me this, to respect others you must respect yourself first. If it were not for Mrs. Smith, I would have never been able to Profile the D.C. Snipers so accurately. A True story for another day.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 15:17:07 +0000