Fist City

I think that working in a nursing home is the absolute best way to really get know the people of an area quickly. All of my patients look like this:



...which is really confusing to me after working in uber-diverse Queens. And they all have names like J.R. Ewing, no kidding. By day 3 on the new job I had a favorite patient. He is a veteran, like everyone in this town, and a retired minister. He pronounces all words starting in "w" with a "h," as in (don't forget the drawl) "hwell, I hwent after a hwhile."

He was complaining this morning about a nurse or a therapist from the past or whoever, and said "we were headed to fist city in a hurry..." Not trusting my ears I said, "Wait, you were headed where?" Sure enough he emphasized "fist city" and stuck up his dukes with a grin on his face, ready for a throw down. I laughed, admitting I'd never heard that before.

His grin grows and he snaps back,

"Yankee!"