Smiley Anders for July 19, 2012

Tales of Cajuns, smart kids, football

Editor’s note: While Smiley is enjoying his Well-Deserved Vacation, here are some items from early in the 2000s:

Welcome back, Goldstein

Teacher Skip Goldstein says one of the joys of his profession is getting to know your new students on the first day of school.

When he asked one student, “Where were you born, and when?” he got this “only in Louisiana” answer:

“I was born in a car in front of Charity Hospital and LSU lost the football game.”

Ancient entertainment

Elsie Boudreaux says she told her granddaughter about going to the movies back in the ’40s:

“I mentioned that we saw the feature film, a cartoon and, since it was before TV, we had newsreels about happenings around the world.

“Her comment: ‘Oh yes, we studied about that in history.’ ”

That secret smile

Donna says the hardest thing about getting her second-grader, Sharon, off to school on the first day was keeping a straight face when Sharon asked if Mama was going to be sad at being left all alone.

Now Mama’s sick

Christina Bedgood, of Galvez, tells us, “The millennium children have spoken.

“I was having a conversation with my 8-year-old son, Joshua, about a time some months back when he had been sick.

“He remembered the stomach problems vividly, and asked what had been wrong with him.

“I said, ‘You probably just had a virus.’

“In the most serious and naive tone, he said, ‘I thought only COMPUTERS had viruses.’

“I couldn’t help but feel I was the naive (and ancient) one.”

Acadiana aroma

Melissa Ross was dressing for work when son Christopher, 5, asked her to use her “Cajun perfume.”

“I was confused, and asked him which one was my ‘Cajun perfume,’” she says.

“He said, ‘You know, the perfume you only wear for special Cajuns.’

“I realized he was talking about the perfume I wear on special OCCASIONS.”

A form of hibernation

LeRoy J. Dugas tells this story, but emphasizes that
it didn’t happen in HIS family.

A guy he knows settled down in his easy chair next to a large bag of pretzels, bowls of other snacks, cold root beer in hand.

While reaching for the TV remote, he turned to his wife and said, “Is there anything you would like to say before the football season starts?”

A Cajun lament

Suzanne Little, of Ponchatoula, says, “Discussion of the notion that Cajuns tend not to stray far from home reminded me of my mother-in-law about 15 years ago as we prepared to transfer from southwest Louisiana to another state.

“She said, through her tears, ‘If y’all move, those babies will grow up and have to marry STRANGERS!’ ”

Write Smiley at [e-mail]. He can also be reached by fax at [phone] or mail at P.O. Box 588, Baton Rouge, LA 70821.