Let me begin by saying that there’s nothing funny about choking. We know this all too well after Camille’s recent experience.
But it also reminded me of one of the funniest — or best-told stories in our family lexicon.
Almost every story my little sister tells is funny. Listening to Mary Kay talk about anything — work, family, aging — is pure entertainment.
She had this gift before she ever realized it. She was in elementary school herself when she came home and told us about the drama that had unfolded at school that day. One of the more mischevious little boys in her class had been goofing around after lunch with a bottle cap.
For the younger members of the audience, soda bottle caps used to be like beer bottle caps — flat metal tops crimped around the edges that had to be removed with a bottle opener. In the years before they were replaced by twist-off caps, some of them also had thin plastic inserts glued on the inside.
So while he has the bottle cap in his mouth, he accidentally sucked the plastic part down his throat. We were all spellbound as Mary Kay described how he started to choke and nothing the teachers did worked, until finally the principal picked him up by his ankles and someone else whacked him on the back, and he threw up all over everything.
She paused for a moment with a faraway look in her eyes, and said simply, “It was hot dog day.”
2 Comments
I hadn’t thought of that in ages!! You nailed it when you said listening to MK talk is pure entertainment! It REALLY IS!! Thanks for reminding me of hot dog day!
oh god…I have heard this story told before, although it was by Grams who is equally talented at story telling. I find that she is also especailly talented at immitation, so when she retold this story as Mary Kay had told it, I laughed until i cried, picturing Mary kay telling it herself. Man this family has good stories!!!