Parental Prudery

 Parental Prudery




    One of Greg's criticisms of his parents which he repeated in his last years was their refusal to mention sex in any way. Of course, discussing sex with the children at any age was an extremely rare thing in the Gate at that time. I was given "the talk" by my brother while the family watched "Bonanza" in the front room of our home in La Habra. Stephen was serious about it and had some diagrams and common terms to describe the whole process. I was very naive and was in the dark about most of it but returned to join Pa Cartwright giving advise to Hoss with my folks pretending like nothing happened. That was 1961 I think and being Catholic the whole sex subject was confusing since it was bad and shameful but you had to do it to make families. I started liking girls about 6th grade but had no idea what went down after a kiss. Greg was always pretty aware of his hormones kicking up a ruckus but remained respectful of the opposite sex. Even his worldly Father was tight-lipped despite curse  words often escaping his Catholic lips. Travel forward to 1965 when a new blockbuster movie was getting lots of attention. The book "Ship of Fools" hasd been a best seller in 1962 and the film was must-see with 8 Oscar nominations and a best actor award to Lee Marvin. It was Vivien Leigh's last movie and featured ten genuine stars in the cast. So, John and Grace took curious Greggie to the grand Warner's Movie Palace on Pacific boulevard in Huntington Park to take in this motion picture masterpiece. Greg was barely a teen but thought himself a man of the world and ready for adult faire along with a coke and some flix. The movie was a whopping 150 minutes long but Greg was digging the grand scale of the oscar-winning art direction shot in black and white. However, he noticed his Mom whispering to his Dad and suddenly they stood up and began to move down the row to exit. In the dialogue there was a crude remark made about an abortion and the word "bastard" was used. This proved to be too much for Grace who wanted to get gone. This enfuriated Greg that they were so square and such prudes. It was an odd development in my life that families like my dysfunctional one began to forgive the sins of our parents but the normal famlies like the Sheehys began to criticize. 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Paul Knowlton's White Lotus

Image
 Paul Knowlton's White Lotus \      It is ironic that this post is titled something that means nothing to the protagonist. Paul, Zeke, "the Prince," "Senor Suerte" or the Snail (I never called him that.) My old pal just created a memorable vacation on the island of Oahu where the mean old world was a far off nightmare and the closest thing to stress was choosing which kind of massage you would request. Paul was the second friend in my life and we grew up about a block away from each other. We were Catholic boys and loved sports that created a bond lasting seventy years. This connection continued from grammar school to High School, to Community College to University. We were roomates from 1968 to 1972 and our families had a solid respect for one another. Paul grew up in a family of nine kids at a tract house in South Gate when the common man lived the American dream. Then again with 11 mouths to feed the American dream can only stretch so far. It is a cliche but ...
Read more

alright mother

Image
  alright mother- “You can find poetry in your everyday life, your memory, in what people say on the bus, in the news, or just what’s in your heart.” —Carol Ann Duffy  Greg was always delighted by a story told by his mother in law about a "sortie" dinner party attended by a Doctor "Putty" Putnam who had been forced to attend an opera by his wife. When asked by a clueless guest if he enjoyed the opera, his response was  "fuck you!" When I was visiting Bear Cove and sitting next to the matriarch Greg goaded her into telling the tale. But a rum n' coke had loosened "Minnie's" tongue and when she got to Putty's answer she blurted a rather hard FUCK YOU!  Roy, hearing his bride curse thusly said across the table "Alright mother!"
Read more

Athletic Club Flower shop

Image
  Athletic Club Flower shop      This phrase is actually the telephone greeting at Greg's uncle Johnny Tassano's flower shop at 808 W. 8th street near Flower street in downtown L.A. Greg loved the place and culled many a story and line from his experiences at a place he worked and visited fondly. Even when he wasn't employed he drove around with cousin Kent (Kevin Smith) and they had a ball observing the absurdities of modern living in the Southland. The phone was answered by different employees and each had a unique turn of "Athletic Club...flowershopppp" There was owner John Tassano, right-hand man Ronald P. Lord, "Speed," a delivery man, and Carmen who cut flowers and told odd anecdotes such as the origin of pizza. I believe Greg and Kevin could go on for weeks about the people they met on their deliveries as they set forth across the city of the angels to spread floral joy. This might include places to eat, fascinating neighborhoods, cemeteries, lone...
Read more