my mother got smacked with a wooden brush for teasing the town mongoloid in the '40s - i didn't correct her when she used the word mongoloid. she said there was a pervert down the street - like in every town and a man who had shell-shock that they watched out for 'cause of his jitters and jumps - my grandfather was nice to him because he owned lots of property. my mom told me her father bought a car in 1941 and had to wait until 1945 to get tires. i was speaking to my brother later that night and he asked why she never talks about her past - i said i didn't know, but i did - when i was still a teenager she said to me - when you're poor you don't have a past.