From My Soap Box

By

Fae Lox

Over time, I’ve noticed ordinary people are inclined to say ironic things for the sake of dramatic effect or cheap humor among an anticipating audience.

Yet, our words have power. Oftentimes such profound connotations. So, we shouldn’t use them so loosely without considering their darker meanings even in jest.

For instance, as a youngster, I recall patriarchal figures teasingly say to their perceived disobedient children, in the presence of other adults of course. “I brought you into this world, I’ll take you out!” Depending on the orator, I often couldn’t tell who meant it or not. Looking back, I still can’t.

Nonetheless, it frightened me as a child to see adults let loose such deep laughter about something that wasn’t funny at all. It’s a strange art to combine humor with death.

Words have a strange way of returning to your door step. Some may say it’s just a saying. Well, not for me. Let me explain why.

My grandmother was a young woman with a ballerina figure under five feet. Unfortunately, she married a hefty musician with a football player build. Who thumped up her small frame regularly, even in front of her eight children.

Sadly, that went on for ages. This continued well after those small children came of age.

One day the boxing ring was thundering inside the home as usual. Poor Sadie was enduring the misery that landed her at one point in a mental institution.

Yet this day, the eldest son, now armed with the courage of a young man came to his battered mother’s aid.

It was said, that when the father saw his son approach, he ordered him to stand down with that old phrase. He said he would take him out of this world if he came up the steps.

Sadie’s husband stood with his gun cocked and ready to fire as he fixated on his son’s posture. While my uncle with rage fueled by decades of abuse lunged to his death in the blink of an eye.

What a cruel day it was for my grandmother.

So yes, these saying are nothing to play with even for the sake of entertainment.

Rest in Peace Uncle Harmon and Grandma Sadie.