My grandma was a stickler on the rules of etiquette for women.
If I were walking across the yard, she would tell me to straighten up my head and quit looking for Nichols.
If I was not sitting on the edge of my seat with my back straight, she would push me physically to the front of the seat and tell me to sit up straight. One afternoon I was sitting outside slumped over, and she told me to sit up straight. I told her it was too hot, and I was sweating too bad to worry about posture. When grandma told me that ladies perspire, and animals sweat, I got angry. I told her that if we had working air conditioning in the house, we wouldn’t have to worry about sweating or perspiring. I could just turn up the thermostat and be comfortable like all my friends. She proceeded to tell me how ungrateful I was for everything I had and I needed to start being a respectful young lady. I have no idea how my grandmother always held her composure, but she did. I knew how much easier it would be to hold my composure and my posture, if mom and dad had the air conditioning repaired. Our air conditioning unit broke down two weeks ago, but since they didn’t have the money to make the repairs immediately, we were going without AC. I can only hope that they got paid and had the air conditioning repaired before I was old enough to move out and have my own home with air conditioning.