Mr. O'brien

I was talking to Dianna tonight and explaining her why I was so afraid of doctors. It’s Mr. Obrien’s fault. Thought I would share this story, as it conjured up some vivid memories.

Mr. O’Brien was our insurance man. He would come to our house periodically to collect the insurance payment. He carried all his paperwork in a satchel. The satchel didn’t zip, but it was leather bound and had carrying handles. In all reality it was nothing but a big book with that contained his client’s information. It looked just like a doctor’s bag.
Back then doctor’s made house-calls. I always thought Mr. O’Brien was a doctor. I would be very afraid when I saw him coming. Mr. O’Brien knew I was afraid of him too, and when he would come Mr. O’Brien would pretend his ink pen was a needle, he would hold it in the air as if he were going to give me a “shot.” He would say, “you ready for your shot.” I would run and hide with fear. Mr. O’Brien would laugh when I would run and hide. I remember one day I was so scared, I hid under my bed with all the dust bunnies. I was little, and I would say it was in the late 50’s.

Mr. Obrien got his. My mother used to do laundry in an old wash tub. Mr. O’brien came one day when my mom was doing laundry. He sat in a kitchen chair to write in his doctor’s bag. When he got up, his pants were soaking wet. You could plainly see the wetness of his pants. The pants were tan, and darker brown when wet. Mom had spilled laundry water in the chair – the chair in which Mr. O’Brien happened to sit. . .Tee Hee.

We didn’t have air conditioning back then. We had fans in the windows. The fans blew to the outside, pulling out all the hot air out of the house. I can remember very vividly my mom, pulling a chair outside, and Mr. O’Brien standing on that chair, outside, drying his pants via the window fan. I can still see that man, on that chair, trying to dry out his britches. Mr. O'Brien was a tall, hefty man, and I prayed the chair would topple and throw him on the ground. Mr. O'Brien was upset, my mom was embarassed. His wet pants kept him from his clients and other children he needed to scare with that darned ink pen. I was laughing now.