Smiley Anders for April 15, 2008
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I guess because I’m getting a few gray hairs and my body seems to be going bad on me, people have been asking, “When are you going to retire?” (Some seem disappointed when I tell them “Not yet.”)
I never think about retirement without recalling my dad’s remarks at his retirement dinner in Metairie.
Smiley Sr. had spent 42 years with Swift & Co., at that time the country’s largest meat packer.
Before he spoke, three other retirees told the crowd how good the company had been to them and got all weepy about it.
Then my old man got up, and his first words were, “Pierre had lunch every day at this diner, where the waitress, Marie, was one good-looking girl, I’m telling you. …”
He went on to tell a moderately naughty Cajun joke, which had people practically falling out of their chairs.
Then he said, “We’ve heard how good Swift was to these people. … Well, I’ve been pretty good to Swift. Hell, they never paid me what I was worth … ”
When he finished, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house — but the tears were from laughter, not sadness.
I was never prouder of the old man. It was a perfect exit, and one I hope I can duplicate in some way when the time comes. …
I’m real tired …
Richard “Maypop” Mayfield, of Centreville, Miss., adds to our collection of country sayings with these descriptions of tiredness:
“I am plum tuckered out.”
“I am whipped as a mule in a mud hole.”
And Harry Clark, of Lafayette, says, “My family was originally from northern Indiana, so this isn’t technically a Southern expression, but it has the same flavor:
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