I love the Judson Post Office. It may be my favorite place in Longview and it isn't even in Longview. Apparently it's in Judson. The two ladies (only two and both ladies) who work there, Karen and Tasha, are incredibly nice and know everything there is to know about postal services. They both appear to be about my age which totally explains Karen, but in no way explains Tasha. Very progressive parents obviously bucking trendy names.
I can't say enough good things about this place. Anyway, on my last trip to this wonderland, the ladies were discussing See Saw Margery Daw. Although Karen had grown up singing this song, Tasha knew nothing of it. So she asked me if I knew it and of course I said yes. And continued that it was a song we sang while see-sawing on the playground which thoroughly delighted P.O. Karen. She surmised that it was because she (Karen), unlike Tasha, had grown up in Louisiana to which I said "me too!", concluding that Louisiana is clearly the Mother Goose mecca.
Well, that was that, but I got back in the car and tried remembering the words. I could only come up with the second line and wasn't certain it was correct. So I googled it, of course. Turns out I was correct, but it started a ball rolling that has led me here - Mother Goose should be illegal and take with it all the tragic Bible stories and all the grim Grimm fairy tales (I culled both the latter way back before they could terrify my own children).
Somehow Mother Goose slipped through the gaping crack at our house and frankly, some of the Disney movies we still watch would qualify.
The evidence is overwhelming and if you've ever read (and given any real thought) to the above-named stories, you'd come to no other conclusion. And it has taken me this long to figure this out? And, worse, I read these to my children?!
Advertising (aka brainwashing) is amazing isn't it? Just say it's great and we believe it. And worse, perpetuate it for generations.
Here is our copy of this horrible book which is now in our fireplace where it belongs. This one fire-starter has nearly 300 of these gems.
The creepy front cover
The back cover, proclaiming how this book (acclaimed by "teachers and librarians") is magical and has been delighting children for over 50 years.
Page one indicating just how many times this horrid book has been printed and reprinted since 1916 . . . I bought this in 1985 so I imagine it's been reprinted every year or two since. Rand McNally, stick to maps.
If you don't remember some of these delightful and magical lines, let me refresh your memory. This one is all you'll need.
See saw Margery Daw
Jack shall have a new master.
You can come to your own conclusion. I don't know who Jack is, but for Margery . . . oh, it gets better.
She sold her bed and lay upon hay,
And pisky came and carried her away.
For wasn't she a dirty slut,
To sell her bed and lie in the dirt?
Nursery rhymes. Nursery being the key word here. Toddlers.
While there was apparently no real Mother Goose, the historical concensus is that the original stories "rose from political disaffection in a largely invented Flemish language (yikes!), an effort described by Iona and Peter Opie (nursery rhyme authorities) as the most extraordinary example of misdirected labor in the history of English letters".
Yes, "the most extraordinary example of misdirected labor in the history of English letters".
I couldn't agree more.
