re: #822 calcajun

I had to laugh at that. My boss at my college TV station (in the early ‘80’s) was a very opinionated back guy; an English major and lover of literature and the English language itself. He was forever correcting me and the other student workers when we lapsed into local NOLA idioms. He was also an unabashed clothes horse-I never once saw him in jeans or a t-shirt—or any shirt that had short sleeves.

One night, we’re out drinking and another black guy I did not know slide up to the bar next to him, slapped him on the back and hailed him as his “brother”. My boss’ eyes narrowed and looked at him and said—in flat unaccented English, “I am NOT your damned ‘brother’. It is people like you that make the rest of us look bad. We speak English in this country, dammit. Learn to speak it properly.” The other guy just took his drink and skulked away.

I learned at that moment you should not laugh when drinking a martini— vodka burns when it comes up through your nose.

You worked for Bill Cosby?