Birthday Butter
In my family, well actually only on my mother's side of the family, a person must be buttered on their nose for good luck every time it is their birthday! My mom grew up in a VERY rural area of Pennsylvania, so don't ask me how or when this tradition started. Though, if you have any ideas, please let me know! :)
As I grew older I learned, to my amazement, that not everyone gets their nose buttered on their birthday. I started to rebel. At first I tried to introduce my friends to this ritual. I explained it calmly to them and then proceeded to butter their noses. I was giving them good luck for a year but they did not seem too appreciative! The result was that they would retaliate and some years I would be buttered by my mother and my friends. Next, I just tried to run from the butter.
Now , part of the rule is that for the ultimate amount of good luck, one must be buttered right as they wake up, or at least early in the morning. When I moved away to college, my mom became worried that I might not be buttered at the right time, but over the years, she has become more lenient concerning this rule.
When I went to college I thought I would be rid of the butter tradition. But nooo. . . My mother got my roommates in on it and they were more than happy to butter my nose. Next I moved across the country to San Francisco and into a house that had no phone. Now my mother couldn't call my roommates and have them butter me! I still got buttered! Three times! My mom called my work and asked my boss to butter me. Then, she was unsure of the outcome of this request so to be on the safe side, she asked my ex-boyfriend, who was living in the area, to butter me. Finally, my current boyfriend, who thought the whole thing was a hoot, decided to butter me on his own accord! Argh!
The story this year is not as good as some previous years, such as the story where I was chased through Boston traffic by my mom who was waving a stick of butter. However, it still deserves merit.
My mom showed up at my apartment at 7am! She called me and said that she had a card to deliver. Knowing something was up, I refused to come down. I told her that I was in the process of finishing a paper and truly was busy. I asked her to give it to me at dinner tonight. She insisted that I was keeping my poor mother out in the cold and that I should just come down because she wasn't leaving.
I went down and put only my hand out the door. She smiled sweetly and then threw her whole body against the door pushing with all her little 90 lb might. The little woman may be old and petite, but she is strong! She got her foot in the crack of the door and then used that as leverage to get the side of her body in.
Then it happened. . .
I suddenly found that I had a large clump of melted butter on my nose! I now officially will have a good year. . .This tradition only could have started in a little western village in the valley of the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania! (ie. The middle of nowhere!)
Hope everyone has a good day! Be thankful you don't have grease on your nose ;) I am now officially 26 years old!
As I grew older I learned, to my amazement, that not everyone gets their nose buttered on their birthday. I started to rebel. At first I tried to introduce my friends to this ritual. I explained it calmly to them and then proceeded to butter their noses. I was giving them good luck for a year but they did not seem too appreciative! The result was that they would retaliate and some years I would be buttered by my mother and my friends. Next, I just tried to run from the butter.
Now , part of the rule is that for the ultimate amount of good luck, one must be buttered right as they wake up, or at least early in the morning. When I moved away to college, my mom became worried that I might not be buttered at the right time, but over the years, she has become more lenient concerning this rule.
When I went to college I thought I would be rid of the butter tradition. But nooo. . . My mother got my roommates in on it and they were more than happy to butter my nose. Next I moved across the country to San Francisco and into a house that had no phone. Now my mother couldn't call my roommates and have them butter me! I still got buttered! Three times! My mom called my work and asked my boss to butter me. Then, she was unsure of the outcome of this request so to be on the safe side, she asked my ex-boyfriend, who was living in the area, to butter me. Finally, my current boyfriend, who thought the whole thing was a hoot, decided to butter me on his own accord! Argh!
The story this year is not as good as some previous years, such as the story where I was chased through Boston traffic by my mom who was waving a stick of butter. However, it still deserves merit.
My mom showed up at my apartment at 7am! She called me and said that she had a card to deliver. Knowing something was up, I refused to come down. I told her that I was in the process of finishing a paper and truly was busy. I asked her to give it to me at dinner tonight. She insisted that I was keeping my poor mother out in the cold and that I should just come down because she wasn't leaving.
I went down and put only my hand out the door. She smiled sweetly and then threw her whole body against the door pushing with all her little 90 lb might. The little woman may be old and petite, but she is strong! She got her foot in the crack of the door and then used that as leverage to get the side of her body in.
Then it happened. . .
I suddenly found that I had a large clump of melted butter on my nose! I now officially will have a good year. . .This tradition only could have started in a little western village in the valley of the Allegheny Mountains in Pennsylvania! (ie. The middle of nowhere!)
Hope everyone has a good day! Be thankful you don't have grease on your nose ;) I am now officially 26 years old!
posted by El @ Monday, February 06, 2006
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