CONVERSATION BETWEEN ELSIE AND SHARON

Written by Luz Leigh – 07 November 2007

      The phone rings. Did you ever notice how so many of my “writings” begin with those three words? That is because a great amount of my time is spent on the phone.

      Sharon? This is Elsie.

      Hey, Elsie, sorry I couldn’t talk yesterday.

      I understand….your daughter was visiting, right?

      Yeah, and then I had a call from a friend in Georgia. He had a doctor’s appointment later in the day and was a little apprehensive about it. Needed to hear some motherly encouragement. Remember his mom died several years ago.

      Oh, is he the one you met in a chat room?

      That’s the one. I treat him like another son. He’s a fine young man, Christian, church going.

      Well, have you heard from him since the doctor’s appointment?

      No, so I’m taking that as “no news means good news.”

      Sharon, I need to set up a time for you to come out here and help me with some things on my computer.

      ME??? Computer? You gotta be kidding.

      No, I am NOT. You know so much more than I do about these instruments of torture.

      There is uncontrollable laughter from Sharon.

      What’s so funny? I know you are not really fond of computers.

      Oh, Elsie, I love that description…..”instruments of torture”….I’d never thought of them in that light, but you are right. We grew up in the PC age….you know pre-computer age.

      Yeah, when I entered business school, I wouldn’t even type on the electric typewriters. We didn’t have those when I was in high school, only the manual ones. So, I would always type on the manuals.

      Wow! Just think…. a couple years later when I took Typing I, we had an ELECTRIC typewriter. Still had about 12 or so of the manuals. The teacher would rotate us around the room, using a different machine each week. That meant that about every 3 months I got to type on the electric one. Chuckling.

      Well, you were braver than I would have been.

      No bravery. If you wanted a grade, you sat where Mrs. Stone told you to.

      Hey…for your list of medicines that our folks bought when we were growing up….be sure to include Grove’s Chill Tonic.

      Groves?

      I think that was the name. I just remember that was the nastiest tasting stuff. Mother would give it to me.

      Was it for like when you had the flu?

      No, it had iron in it (I was anemic all the time). I thought it had flakes of iron in it because it left a gritty feeling on my teeth. It was worse than the syrup pepsin we talked about.

      There is chuckling on both ends of the phone lines.

      Lydia E. Pinkham, crazy crystals, black draught….wonder what all those things were for? I’m gonna ask Dot if she knows since she worked in the drug store. Speaking of the drug store…..do you remember how she had to wrap the feminine products in plain brown paper before they were put on the shelf for sale?

      Oh, girl, yes. We lived in such a sheltered life. Well, I did because Mother and Daddy and Granddaddy and I lived so far out in the country.

      And you think my life was NOT sheltered.

      More laughing.

      I want to say something and I don’t want it to sound unkind or ugly, but it probably will.

      O.K.

      Going back to computers…..how do you suppose Laura got to be so proficient on the computer? Not to be mean, but she is dumb as a rock.

      Sharon is cracking up with laughter.

      Good description. Well, to be honest, I think that most folks who are computer whizzes are nerds to begin with….just a little different and different she is. (It is at this point in the conversation that Sharon suddenly remembers Elsie’s son is a computer whiz. OOPS.) Ugh, well, she has had a lot of free time to play on her computer…..she never worked away from home, so I guess she just found something she could do. Wasn’t afraid of messing something up.

      That’s always been my problem. I’m afraid I will mess up something that no one can fix.

      Oh, me too. When I was still working, I would not venture out of the accounting program or Word. When we got Internet service and the mayor said I had to learn to send emails, I nearly panicked.

      Well, you’ve learned a lot more than I have.

      I’d like to talk longer, but the dryer just stopped. I gotta take the clothes out before they wrinkle; heaven forbid that I should have to iron something.

      OK….good to talk to you. Bye

      Bye.