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The USA would be a better place if women would tie on aprons and get back in the kitchen.

That’s according to King Google or Goober, whichever.

As, Miss Alice Bowden would have said, that somebody else’s tale, I sit on mine.

But, my Mama wore an apron like many other women of her time. Back in those days, there were only few paying jobs that women were suited for — a school teacher, a nurse and a beauty parlor operator and, maybe, a secretary.

For a time, after Mama and Daddy got married, she worked at Miss S.E. Hightower’s beauty parlor in downtown Brundidge. It was a small, narrow shop, so the stations were close and everybody could hear what everybody else was saying. There’s a continuing funny story about Miss S.E. who was an old maid who would not have won a beauty contest.

Henrietta Hicks was just the opposite, a very striking lady. One day, Sara Emily went to visit friends in Clio. She took Henrietta along. At the beauty parlor the next day, someone asked Sara Emily how she enjoyed the visit. She said she didn’t. Everywhere she went folks were talking about how beautiful Henrietta was. “The next time I go, I’m gonna take S.E.!”

One story Mama told was about a very prominent, working out, lady in town who got lice. Mama had to work under the cloak of darkness to protect the identity of the lady. She said it took until sunup to strip out all the nits (lice eggs), one hair at a time, to get every single nit out. The prominent lady went back a work the next day, prim and proper, and lice free.

Mama soon started staying home so I ceased to be well informed about the goings-on in town.

Mama often said she wished she could have been a school teacher.  She would have liked that. In her later years, she came close. She was a substitute teacher at Pike County High School. The kids were kind and nice to her. She had purpose and found fulfillment. She was happy working out.

So, I don’t know about women putting on aprons and getting in the kitchen. Why, we would have to take our Christmas decorations and fine china out of the oven. Then … what in heaven’s name would we do in the kitchen?!!