Do you ever have a name that you associate with a particular time and place? For me, the name is Emma. I’ve never actually been friends with anyone named Emma but whenever I hear the name I picture myself on a roadway median shouting as loud as I can.
You see, when I was a kid my mother had friends who liked to party. They partied so much that sometimes regular parties weren’t enough and they had to branch out to what the called road parties. A road party was when they would set up chairs on the grassy median in the center of a local road and drink beer until the cops broke it up. In addition they would yell at passing motorists and grill burgers. It sounds silly but it was exciting at the time. In addition to the chairs, coolers full of beer and grills there were props. The props included a flag, several road signs and for some reason, one of the rear doors of an old ambulance. Once upon a time the ambulance door had a partner and together they spelled out EMERGENCY in bold letters but by the time the road parties took place one of the door was gone and only EMER remained. For reasons never explained to me the road party attendees would frequently point to the door and yell out EMER! which soon got bastardized into EMMA! I was not yet able to drink beer during road parties (that would take another two years) but I could and would keep an eye out for cops and yell EMMA ‘till my hearts content. It’s safe to say I grew up differently than you did.
To this day I can’t hear the name Emma without wanting to point and yell out their name.
9 Comments
June 11, 2008 at 11:45 pm
can i just tell you, you didn’t grow up that differently from me. i was the waitress all of my mom’s parties and i got a quarter for every beer i brought them. at age 4
June 11, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Glad to know I’m not alone Stephanie.
June 12, 2008 at 12:21 am
i forgot to say fuckpants. balls!
June 12, 2008 at 5:24 am
i have to say i can’t relate at all. i think i would have some serious issues if i had grown up that way. only because i have some issues with the way i did grow up! how is your relationship with your parents these days? is that too personal? if so…forget i asked!
June 12, 2008 at 5:36 am
@natalie: I’ve always said Will is the kind of guy who has the sort of childhood that ends on a watchtower shooting people but instead he uses it to mine comedy. Which is why he could really be the next David Sedaris if he put his mind to it.
June 12, 2008 at 5:39 am
My relationship with my parents is pretty good. I like them, I think they like me too.
June 12, 2008 at 11:58 am
My sister is called Emma, you can shout loudly at her, so long as you end with ‘get off your lazy arse and do something with your life, you fucking waster’
You see, I would say that, but I would be disowned by our mother…..
June 12, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Be The Boy childhood stories are my fave!
June 12, 2008 at 4:29 pm
i am glad. i do love the childhood stories for sure. glad you made it out safely. the slackmistress is right. it makes for great comedy!