Plenty

Over de times of bein' absent from de blog, ah relocated -- among other tings. That would mean new church, new people, etc., but nutten like that yet. In essence, I'm not de most "people person" you'll ever meet.
Example: Relative introduced us to nice enough lady, who happens to mention that her friend had a nervous breakdown, an' it somehow fell upon her to step in as a friend an' keep de woman's daughter for a couple of months -- never mind that de woman has family in NY, nearness to de daughter's school, etc., made nice-enough-lady de likely guardian to offer assistance.
She said she don't know what kinda parent de mother is, 'cause de girl only have two pairs of shoes an' five undergarments. When ah asked why she woulda mention that to us an' she don't really know wi, she said that as decent folks she know wi coulda sympathize wid de negligence of that insufficient amount of clothin' that she will now have to spen' money to supplement. Ah told her that throughout mi school years, ah could recall havin' five "school" panties an' a "church" one (an' two "goin' out" ones that might never have existed, 'cause no occasion was important enough for mi granny to authorize de wearin' of dem). Granma woulda "tack up" an' replace only on an as-needed basis, an' even mi male cousin can vouch for de million times wi hear har say, "Mek mi tack up that brief fi yu!" There was no such ting as destroyin' one that yu didn't like, soh that it would be replaced. If she had to use needle, thread, glue, thumb tacks, fishin' line (yu get de point!), they would be "tacked up" an' worn. De "retired an' replaced" undergarments didn't disappear, they showed up durin' de holidays when yu deh home fi weeks. "It don't matter that dem old, drudge dem anyway - yu not stoopin' down fi play marble like de boys dem, soh de 'oldies' won't be seen out an' about." Maybe, she could've afforded better an' plentier, but ah didn't think it was negligence. Three pair of school socks, one pair of church socks, two school ribbons, two white church ribbons, one school handkerchief, one church handkerchief... Yu understan'. From a backgroun' in which yu have one pair of school shoes an' one pair of church shoes (an' if de school shoes at shoemaker an' yu wear de church shoes to school, den yu haffe "walk pon egg shells" wid dem), it's kinda difficult to consider five panties as negligence to daughter. "Nice enough lady" asked if ah only have five now. Taken aback, ah said no. Ah buy dozens, but Granma teachin's dem rule: Ah still mek use of just enough, an' use de rest to replace or for a "rainy day"/momentous occasion that might never come. "Nice enough lady" said maybe that's because she herself isn't from de "islands," an' in America, people at least buy enough clothin' to clothe demself an' their children wid comfortable abundance. A younger woman who was there said she's from de C'bean, an' her parents always bought her plenty personal wear an' every-ting, so it's not an island ting, it might be more of a social ting, as her family's always been Extremely Upper Class, she said, "no offense."
Mi noh bother seh nutten else. Maybe "nice enough lady" was tactless in mentionin' it, maybe ah was tactless in discussin' it. Obviously, wi don't agree, an' she waan convert me to seein' de mother as negligent, widout givin' a proper example of it. Mi naw goh agree, soh that's it.