| When we were in our early teens, my mother, uncle, and grandmother, "Ollie", decided it was FINALLY time to remodel the down-stairs kitchen and get it updated at least to the 19th Century! They hired a family friend who was a carpenter named Emory P. Uncle Ned gave him some assistance now and then, and not knowing a whole lot about carpentry, continually asked, "What'll we do now Emory?" Of course, Tim and I picked up on this expression and used it for years afterward (and still do as a matter of fact). Whenever we were doing anything and ran into a problem or had a question, we would blurt out in front of anyone who was helping or just standing around, and say out loud, "What'll we do now Emory"? On one occasion, when Tim was in the Navy and at that time was a lowly Seaman (E-3), he was working on some aviation repairs (Tim was an "Airdale" in the Navy, or "Brownshoe" because he was in the aviation branch, as contrasted to me being a "Blackshoe" in the non-aviation branch). While Tim was trying to figure out how to repair the particular problem he was working on, a Navy Senior Chief (E-8) was standing over him supervising his repair task. When he came to a point of not knowing what the solution to the problem was, he habitually blurted out, "What'll we do now Emory"? The Senior Chief then came "unglued" and went into a ranting and raving scene and gave him a royal "chewing out"! Yeah... you guessed it, unbeknown to Tim, The Senior Chief's first name was Emory! (The "Tillinghast Luck" as usual)! |
