Annotations for Topic: Generational Relations

And as a parent, that's what you want for your kids. You want your kids to have a better life and be smarter than you are. My son is, he's surpassed me long time ago. And, uh, I've got two boys, two girls, and boy, the boys were a lot easier them girls. Like, oh, I still want to beat my head against the wall with my 20-year-old that lives here, . But no, it's, it's, uh, you know, things are just, it is just a, you know, it's, it has changed. I mean, we had a population when I was in school, high school, uh, we had, um, around 5,000 people. And I'd say now we probably got, what do you think, honey? About 20,000? Huh? More than that. More than that, yeah. We got over probably, probably closer to 30,000 people in our community. And reason being, I think is the fact that it is a rural

Some of the greatest strengths? Uh, I'd say the school system is probably one of its greatest strengths that we've got a really good, uh, educational system in place. And, uh, I know when my boys and girls were growing up, uh, the teachers, uh, were very involved with us to let us know how our kids are doing in school. And, you know, and it's, and and our school was, it is, I mean, they've had some bad things happening in our school. We've had guns brought to school, been some lockdowns and stuff, and some bomb threats. But I mean, you get that anywhere you go, but here it is just, you know, it is once in a blue moon, uh, you know, if hardly ever does it happen, you know, and nothing bad is gone down. I mean,

uh, there's, there've been a, a couple of kids that hurt theirselves and things like that. But, you know, it is, and I, I guess one of the other strengths is that we're, we've got, uh, three concrete companies that are around middle oath, and we got a steel plant, uh, three concrete plants. Uh, there's all kinds of [[]], you know, we've got a lot of business. And there's, it's, it's a good economy, uh, here in this town. And, you know, people work hard and, uh, it's, it's amazing. It is like me and my wife, you know, sometimes we can go by product. It's one store and a new business be opening up, and

Uh, oh man. , well, don't get me started on the city council , uh, uh, some of our politicians are, how do I say this? A lot of our politicians are self-serving, and they, we feel a lot of people in town feel like they're just look for ways to spend our tax money. You know? I mean, it's like, you know, we're, we've always been a pretty meager town, and I know we grow with the times, but I mean, you know, our, our little city hall and everything, uh, they're building one now that is this huge building. And,

you know, everybody's kind of going like, man, do we really need a city hall that big? But then it's, and, and, you know, it's a mixed bag of being bad and good because, you know, they got this huge city hall, the taxpayers are paying for it, but we've got a public library in it, and it's going to be a big library, you know? And, you know, I think that's great. 'cause that gives people that hadn't got access, uh, to computers and stuff. And it gives them a chance to go in there and educate yourself or, you know, read a book or, you know, and, and like I say, it's kind of, it's, it is pro and con. There are some things that are good about it, and there's some things that are bad about it. The only other, uh, bad thing that I would say about it is the fact that, and this, this is just my age, uh, telling off on me, is the fact that we're growing way too fast.

the projection of this, this area is that there, they're, they're the next 10 years, they're planning on building 400 houses a year. So it's 400 families, and that's supposed to be the trend for the next 10 years. So let's, my boy, my math is terrible right now. So 10 times 400, that's, uh, 40,000 or 4,000 mm-hmm . It's 4,000 families. It, they got to do something with the infrastructure because it ain't right to people to shut their electricity off or to sell 'em. And, uh, the, the only, and the thing with the building, the buildings and the housing is that the city council, the, and this is, like I say, this is just my age.

and I got another brother that lives four houses down and across the street. And we thought it was cool that all of us get back on the same street. We had a farm that we lived on these kids and grew up on, and we kind of got scattered into the winds. And then, uh, three of us got back together. We lost one brother and a plane crashed. But, uh, we all stayed connected with each other, and we were able to do that. And I don't know of any other, you know, it's, it is, I meet people if I'm rambling, I'm sorry. But, uh, I meet people in my walkthrough life and, you know, I just, you know, they'll get to be talking about their best friend and I'll say, well, how long have you known your best friend? Oh man, I've known my best friend [[]] years. Oh, well, cool. I said, well, how long have you known your best friend? Let's see, I'm 68.

And, uh, it is, it is just, but, but the, the love of the people that I grew up with, uh, it's probably been the most amazing and best thing that I've ever had about this town. And like I said, we've got, and we, you know, the, the, and one of the bad things about that is when you get to be my age, sometimes you don't see 'em until you go to their funeral. And that's hard on the soul, but it, it, it keeps you in touch too, I think with your creator that it marks the time that you only got so much time and you better make the best of it, you know? And it don't matter what situation is. If you're in a bad situation, man, turn to your friends and get out of it, you know, unless they're the ones that are causing you a bad situation and you just get away from them.

But, uh, you know, like I say, it, it is, it is. There's not anything that's really terrible other than, like I say, sometimes the infrastructure and just the overpopulation, and you look at it. But, you know, I'm a realist too, and I know that it's not going to get smaller. It's going to get bigger every year. You know, there, there used to be a lot of country, uh, that you could drive back roads and drink beer and never see anybody for hours. And now it's, I mean, it's a solid city from [[]]. There's a little bit of country, and there's a little bit of country between here and [[]]. And from [[]] to [[]] is almost solid cities. And same way going north and south, you know, there's, it is just little stretches of country and just, you know, and it's just going to grow. It's just gonna get bigger and bigger and more stores, more houses, and, you know, I guess it's progress, but, you know, old guys like me is sometimes it's too much progress. .

it has helped us as far as, you know, and like I say, and me and my wife, we try to keep things, uh, local is what we do. You know, it's, there's, you know, we go out to eat with, uh, family and stuff. And I mean, there's lots of great restaurants in [[]] and Waxahatchee and [[]], and we eat here in [[]] to, to give our money and our business to the fellow people in our town, you know? And, and there's a lot of people that feel that way, you know, and do that. But, uh, as far as the, the, the, how it's helped me as a carpenter is there have been, there's been times when one is the little old widow woman over here, and I know she's on a fixed income, and I know she needs some carpenter work done. And

that trusting God to take care of us, he always has. We, we've been through some really hard stuff with losing family members and stuff like that. And we know that, uh, man, we've had a lot of God things hit us right in the face, and man, that was God helping us out, you know? You know, and that's another thing about this town. I don't mean to , when I was in high school, we had one high school, and we probably had about 20 churches, so, and everybody went to church. And so, you know, it was, it was pretty religious, you know, there's a lot of religious upbringing, you know, in, uh, here, in this town. And, uh, I think it's a good thing because it's like, I don't go to church anymore, but I went to church up until the time I was [[]], and I'm [[]], fixing to be [[]], so that's been [[]] years. But the older I get, the closer to the creator I've become, and my faith

Positive. Yeah. Well, everybody's, so, there's, there's so much meanness in the world. I mean, people that'll just, you know, man, they'll take advantage of you, man. They'll rob you blind or worse. And so everybody gets distrustful, you see somebody, you know, and it is, it is, and I've been guilty of this, you know, we, we profile, you know, you see some guy over here's got a lot of tats, and he's baldheaded and he's got tats all over his neck and his arms. And you instantly think, this guy's bad news. And you find out if you get to know him, you find out, man, this guy, hell, he, he's a deacon in the church and has done all this volunteer work and stuff, you know, and you know, you realize I've been wrong, but, you know, a lot of people won't give it that chance to really know this person. And like I say, me and her have done, we're proud of the fact that we do for the community and, uh,

do what we can. We help out where we can. You know, like I say, uh, she had two boys, my sons when, uh, ever I met her and they became my sons. And then we adopted two girls after our boys got grown. And, you know, and because, and you know, everybody said, man, hey, old boy, y'all are, you know, you got them girls, you raised them and y'all already raised your kids. You know, y'all, y'all, y'all, y'all. Why are you doing that? They're in our village. I, you know, I don't have any kids of my own, but I do. I got these four, I got 10 grandkids. They're not blood grandkids, but they are my grandkids. I, I took 'em home and, you know, they're going to be my grandkids, you know, even after I'm gone, you know? So, yeah. And like I say, that's, that's the type of values use

that I have learned growing up in this town is take care of your village. You know, reach out there. I, I can't comprehend a guy that runs out on his kids, or a woman that runs out on their kids or, and you know, get, get hooked on drugs and shit and just not take care of their kids. And I mean, you know, I ain't no angel. I've been down that road too, but I grew out of it. Said, that's it, man. I can't accomplish the things in life I want if I keep this going. I was 26, I decided it was time for me to dry out and quit being stupid. . Well, I don't know. I, I, my, my wife will disagree with you on that. I still do some stupid shit. . Pardon my French, other.

that's what I, like I say, that's what I really love about this town is the fact that all of, almost, I say 99% of the people that everybody will try to take care of you, you know, if and if you're down. I mean, we had, we just had a friend of ours that, uh, had a tornado hit his trailer house and he's got a wife, two little kids, and I mean, they lost it. It just tore up. It is down to the ground, scattered out in pastures. And we got involved with helping them rebuild. And I mean, within a day or two, we, we had found them a place to live, uh, got 'em involved with the church, helping them, you know, man a house and all of this stuff and helping them get back on their feet. And two weeks later they were better off. My, my friend, he told me, he said, man, we're better off than we've ever been in our life because of you guys. And he said, man, I, I just don't understand

how you, you reach out to people like that. And I said, it's real easy. You do what's right. You know. And like I say, that's just part of the values that I grew up with. I had two great amazing parents that instilled that in me and my brothers. I mean, they was four of us and they, nobody went to jail, you know, we knew better, you know, and not a bad, not a bad one in the bunch. We made our mistakes and we, I mean, you know, because they, they might have, I, I spent the night in a jail cell a couple of times, but I never was arrested. It was because I was best friend with the chief of police's son . And so it was, Hey, you get in a car, I'm gonna take you to a bed. And, and he'd take me down to jail and we'd drink coffee and eat donuts. It happened twice. And one year he said, don't, don't make me pull you over again. If I do, uh, there will be a record. And I didn't, uh, you know, it's okay, I'll straighten up. I'll quit drinking , try it.

[[]] built this, you know? And you know, I'm [[]] years old and we're fixing to be [[]], and I still have that pride that I try to do the best I can. I have forgot a lot, you know, being old, but is still the, I want to do the best I can do, you know? Is it as much as I used to, could do. Oh, hell no. . But, but it's been, you know, it's been good.

Keeping your body in shape. Yeah, because it's, uh, because of what I've done all my life, I, I can't hardly get down on my knees and work anymore because I spent too much time crawling around on the floor doing floor tile at, at one point. And I worked doing that for probably two or three years. And it took a toll after I was older, and it really took a toll on my knees. And health wise, just, uh, you know, straining too much, carrying too much stuff instead of, you know, carrying too boards. I'm going, you know, I'm gonna show these guys over here, I'm gonna carry four. And it just wears your body out. In fact, I'm having back surgery in, uh, about, uh, three or four more weeks, months. And, uh, you know, is, and, and that's what it's from. It's, you know, it's, it's got its

I would say we're a border country. We're a border state, and we got Mexico to the south of us. I know that, uh, there's a lot of people that don't speak Spanish in this state, but I think that it ought to be kind of mandatory in our school because it's like kids in Italy, they can speak Spanish, German, French, you know, they know four, they know four languages, you know? And it, you know, I, it makes me feel like we grew up stupid, you know, because you run in, you know, these, these people can speak four different languages and there's a lot of similarities in there, but between them, but, uh, you know, I like I say, I do, I struggle with English.

Yeah. I completely agree that we, everybody in Texas needs to learn to speak two languages.

Four, I think. Yeah. Uh, a four on that one. You come across the border, you going to live in this country, you need to speak the language. Right. And don't play that. I don't hobb bl shit. because, and that's a four, you know, you need to learn, you know, because it's, this is your new country. The basic language is English. So,

I, I think you can, but I think it's real hard. I think it, and that's, that's, there's a, there's a hard struggle because I think because of the fact that, well, maybe you're here illegal and you know, it's, you know, and, and people just, you know, all while they're illegal, well, uh, go, go live in their situation, you know, put yourself in their shoes that, you know, they got drug cartels that are going to kill their family if they don't take this two pounds of cocaine or 20 pounds of cocaine across the border happens all the time. So, yeah. Yeah. I'd say, come to this country, learn to speak language, you know, that ought to be one of the first things that they do.

I I would, uh, I would say that is a number one. 'cause it has changed tremendously. I mean, and you know, it's basically just the, the amount of people and that come into the community. And it's not just this community, it's every community around. I mean, there's, you know, it is, it is just growing and growing and growing. And I, you know, I'm, like I say at my age, I hope that I, I would not want to if they had a pill where you could, I could live another a hundred years

No, no. I've spent my time. Might not have been wisely, but I've spent my time here and I don't want to, uh, know, I wouldn't want to have to go through the stuff. I would really be a dinosaur that the kids go through today. I, I couldn't have been a teenager today. I mean, and we had, I mean, back when I was in school and stuff, we had, uh, hell, everybody smoked weed, you know, everybody drank, well, not everybody, I'd say probably 70% smoke weed, probably 80% drink, you know. But, you know, it's, is the time's changing, you know, it wasn't, it was illegal as hell so bad that whenever, if you got caught smoking, uh, man, they could give you 10 years hard labor.

Uh, well, as we've gotten bigger, uh, I think people are a lot less friendly than they were when I was a kid growing up, kid growing up, everybody in town knew you, so you didn't do anything really stupid to get caught, because everybody knew your parents. And in today's community, uh, there's a lot of strangers out there. You know, it goes back to, you know, the guy that's living next door to you and you never talked to the guy. If you've been living there five years and you don't know anything about him, you know, could be Ted Bundy, you don't know. But, and you know, that's, and that's, that's sad. You know, it's, we were, we've losing that sense of, uh, family

and they, and my mother would go and she told the neighbor lady, she said, well, you know, me and my kids, we like farm fresh milk, and if y'all have any extra, I'll trade you for it. So my mother bartered with them, and we were on a barter system because these are proud people. They would know, you ain't giving me nothing. I will trade you. You know, you're going to give me this, I'm going to give you something. And that's what they would do. They would give us farm fresh milk from their cows, hadn't been pasteurized, hadn't been processed and boils that stuff. Good. But that's the kind of thing that went on. You took care, you know, like say they were dirt poor and, you know, mom and daddy instilled this kind of thing. Uh, I come through, when I went to school, we were segregated. Uh, black kids went to one school, white kids went to another school. Um, my first friends

and playmates, besides my brothers, was, there was three little black kids that lived about a half a mile down the road from us. And my dad was a, he, he was a carpenter, but he was a mechanic, electrician, plumber. He could do it all, jack of all trades. And he always made sure that we either had bicycles or mini bikes, or he even bought us a car one time to make a dune buggy out of just, you know, drive around the farm on. And he would let me, him and mama would let me take my mini bike and drive to these three little boys' house. And we play, their mom and dad lived in a barn. You could see daylight through the cracks. And these people were real proud. And I grew up with these kids,

and they were my friends. And I can remember my school bus passing them. They're out beside the road waiting for the black bus. And I didn't get it, you know, and the white school bus would drive by. And I just, and one day I just, it just dawned on me, mama, why won't they, why, why my school bus stopped and picked them kids up? Because our school bus drives right by their school. And so when I was about eight, maybe nine years old, my mother had to explain segregation to me. And even at that age, I, that just ain't effing fair, you know? And, you know, and then of course, you know, we, when I was probably in about the fifth grade, we desegregated and blended into one school system. And it was one of the greatest things because, you know, there, there we had, we had some racists,

they had some racists. You know, all you black people just out screw me and all you black people outcr me. And it's the things that I grew up with. And that, like I say, that's part of the values that my mom and dad instilled in us, is you don't be prejudiced. You know, you judge people by their merit about what they can do and what they have done. And, you know, not just cause of, uh, their religion, race, religion or color. You don't do that. You know? And it's like I say, it was, that's one of the greatest things, uh, I think in my childhood was the parents. I had instilled these values in me, and I still got 'em now. Yeah. Uh, I, you know, and it's, it is true with every culture. There are bad apples in every bunch, but as a whole, man, people are people, you know? And it don't matter, you know, to me there are a lot of people. It does.

She ain't gonna answer that , but, uh, yeah, uh, I think it, it ought to be, it ought to be easy. Uh, I was kind of, I really was kind of a shy, uh, kid, but boy, when I, when I got opened up to him, I do like I do to you, man. I, blah, let's, let's talk, I'll give you my history, you know, and I've always been that way. I, I, and I, I don't lie about it, you know? People ask me, Hey man, you ever used any dope? I, man, I've used everything , I used everything. And I quit it. , you know, 26 years, or when I was 26 years old. I quit everything, drinking, smoking, . And, and I don't, I don't stand in judgment of people that do. 'cause I, I've been an addict, you know? And, uh, there's

programs out there though that if you want to get off and quit, you can get off quit. I walked away from it cold Turkey. I just, my mother was my best friend in this life, and she could talk to me like my mother and she could talk to me like my best friend. And when I realized I was 26 years old, and I realized I was out of control, uh, I made a phone call to her. Uh, I just, I, I damn near died, damn near ODed. And I made you a phone call to her and I said, mama, I need some help. Well, what do you need help for? What are you doing? I said, well, I'm outta control. Said, what do you mean you're outta control? I said, I'm doing too much drinking, uh, too much drugging. And she said, pack you a suitcase. You come home tonight. And I did. And it's, it's an amazing life. It's an amazing thing and an amazing journey.

the closeness of our village when I was a kid, you didn't lie because you going to get caught in it because everybody knew, you know, my mother come up and said, you know, when I got a license, what'd y'all do last night? I found out real quick. She already knew what we done. And so after about the third time being called on the carpet and getting grounded from my car for a line, well, what'd you do last night? Oh, mom, you wouldn't believe I picked this girl up from [[]]. We went to a motel. God dang mama, she was pretty . And then I'd start really getting into some , explicit shit. My mother would go, okay, that's enough . We asked what I did last night, so, you know, I'm going to tell you the truth. And I did. I, I was, you know, I've always been that way, you know, the only time I lied was to the cops, and it was only to keep from going to jail. . And, you know,

Age. I'm, she was a great lady. She was a great lady.

Hard that was. Well, well, the, the, the amazing thing, and like I say, you know, the talking about a God thing, my mom and dad both died from cancer. And God blessed me by letting me know when they were going to die. And I was able to clear the air, bury the hatchet. Me and my dad had some issues with each other. When my mom, dad died, me and my dad become, um, just like that together. I mean, we just, we forgot all the stupid shit that we used to argue with, pardon me. Uh, stupid stuff we used to argue over and . I'll tell this story and I'll quit talking when I was 42 years old and me and my wife had been married a while and our boys were up and grown teenage, and, and my dad had been in my butt over something. Boy, he was chewing it, talking to me like I was 12 years old. And boy, I blew up on him.

They had quit treating me like, I'm 12, I'm 42 years old, and you standing there and you talking to me like that. I, I've had enough of it, dad. And he stopped and he, he looked at me, his mouth kind of fell open like he was in shock. And he said, well, I guess you're right. I, I guess I have been treating you like you was 12 years old. He said, I'll tell you what, I promise I will quit if you'll do one thing for me. I, what's that dad? He said, quit acting like you're 12 . And you know, and I looked at him and both of us busted out laughing. And after that, we never had, we never had a, a bad day between us, you know? But that, I always thought that was funny. Course. Yeah. I like you 12. Yeah. God, that's

Yeah, two. And just for one last fun question before we have like a little optional thing we can do. A lot of people think the [[]]90s was the golden decade of pop music. Do you think so

Also. Pretty good one then. Uh, thank you for your answers and if you have a little bit of time, I'd uh, I have one last request. One of the overarching research questions through this Home to Texas program is about linguistic changes in Texas. As a part of this project, a linguistic research is asking that interview participants read a brief passage about life in Texas. It's a short made up story that was created in the [[]]80s and since then, linguistic researchers have recorded a couple hundred Texans reading it over the past few decades. They use these recordings as samples of people's standard way of speaking and they try to track how speech and change has varied and changed over time. Would you be willing to just read this brief passage out loud? Sure. Perfect. Thank you. Uh, the passage is right here. Just please read it out.

I didn't like city life and for a long time I'd go home every chance I got. Mama would always cook my favorite food. Fried oak hopping, John, that's rice and black-eyed peas and pecan pie. We had lots of good times, but going home is not the same. Now. After dad died, mama sold the farm, moved to Tyler. I'd rather be living on a farm right now instead of here in the city. But my wife and kids don't understand me. When I gripe about city life and talk about moving to the country, my oldest child says, daddy, that's crazy. I'll just die if I had to live on a farm. I almost cried the first time she said that. I know Texas is changing, but I try to make sure we don't lose touch with our roots. While we may live in a city, I want my kids to have a good feed feeling for the land, have a sense of place, take pride in being Texans, and if they lose our ties to the land, the price of progress is too high.

Uh, this is [[...]] . Today is [[...]] , and I am in [[...]] , Texas for an interview, uh, with one of our community members for the language and history interview. Before we begin, I just want to get, uh, verbal consent. Could you please say I consent to being interviewed and audio recorded for this study?

Well, yeah, and in fact, um, Originally when they were thinking of building UT [[...]] , or no, I guess it, yeah, UT [[...]] , uh, they didn't necessarily want to inherit the old [[...]] State campus. The idea was to build a campus a stride. The county line, just like the airport was later on, both counties. That way you don't have the rivalry, so you can claim both. Well, they didn't do that. Mm-hmm. They just built it on top of [[...]] State College, which in some ways was a mistake. Not only because you don't have the county line thing and you don't really have a, a foot in [[...]] County at all. And also a mistake because you inherited a lot of, no offense here, but junior college faculty mm-hmm. And put 'em in a senior college. Well, the junior college faculty is simply not up to snuff by senior college standards. Um,

Ruth Allen did that. She was an economics professor at UT Austin, none in the twenties and thirties. And I got to know her in her old age, and she gave some of her later records to us, . Um, So I went around the state frequently with, sometimes with a couple other professors, and we collected, uh, we went into a town and we would collect the minutes of meetings of central labor councils, local unions, um, regional offices. Um, historian from [[...]] said, we had the only regional collection of the, uh, uh, meat cutters union. And, um, [[...]] has the national collection. They didn't have, they don't have any regional collections. So they came down here to research some of our records. Mm-hmm. [[...]] was the center of, uh, a multi-state regional office for the meat cutters union. They've since amalgamated with the, with the clo? No, with the, uh,

if the authorities let you and you engage in political campaigns. Endorsed candidates, uh, worked for candidates. And I did some of that too with, uh, usually with labor folks, sometimes going door to door. I, I prefer, I prefer that to getting on a telephone. I wouldn't do a telephone.

Cold calls are hard.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Cold calls. Yeah, that's right. That's what all of 'em are. Um, so I've been involved with the labor community and the political community. I know, I know a lot of, or used to know a lot of politicians and labor leaders and, um, in this community and others. And I think it enlarged my vision of life. It, uh, I didn't wanna spend all my time among academics, and I treasure them, but I treasure all those labor and political leaders I met, and a lot of lawyers to be mm-hmm. Um, 'cause lawyers were in the labor movement and in politics. So

Well, it used to matter more than it does now, because labor's weaker now than it used to be. Mm-hmm. Although it's the last few years, it's coming back and you have these novel, uh, organizational efforts done by people in the plant itself, like Starbucks and some of these other, they take the initiative. It's hard for labor unions to get to them anymore because of the constraints on labor, legals constraints. Now that's eased under Biden, but whenever you got a Republican president, they put people on the National Labor Relations Board who are anti-labor, and you just can't get any organizing done. And even if you do organize, you can't get, you can't get a, you can't engage in collective bargaining in a meaningful sense because management won't bargain. Mm-hmm. But if now you've got these young people organizing the place, then themselves without any help from unions, they'll, the unions will step in later or ask for or give help if asked. Um,

Well, my father, um, who was raised with a Midland, Tennessee accent, in fact, I was born in Tennessee, uh, was a member of the postal workers Union. Mm-hmm. A letter carrier, and two of my uncles were in the post office day. And that, um, I learned a little about their union, uh, back in the sixties. Uh, but I think what was more important, uh, in turning me onto labor was, uh, I attended the, uh, [[...]] Convention, which meets it annually. All the southern historians get together. And Memphis, it was that year, 66. And, um, a number of the young historians there, a couple of 'em from [[...]] State, uh, buddies of mine and others all around the, all around the south, Um, met together and, uh, called a, uh, a little caucus.

to collect labor records. So that's what, that's when I went back from that convention to my head librarian and propose this, that we collect labor records. Mm-hmm. And he and I just started doing it. We drove out to United Arnold Workers local regional meeting, uh, in [[...]] . That was our first trip. Now, he didn't make any more trips. He had the library to run, but a couple of other professors helped me mm-hmm. Do that. Um, and, um, The guys in [[...]] did that. Oh. What was, uh, Georgia State, I guess it is. Or Think that's right. Whatever state universities in Atlanta. Um, they started a labor archives after we did. Um, and those two are still there. And, uh, still part of the, the archives in those two institutions. So it bore fruit at two universities. Mm-hmm.

Well, they're not at the [[...]] Center. They're over there at the, um, [[...]] Center. Oh, okay. Which shouldn't have been called that. It was originally the [[...]] Historical Center. Uh, he was somebody who did something for the university. He was a history professor way back when. Uh, but, uh, the head of it sold out, and now it's Dolf [[...]] gave him big bucks. So it, he never, he's never done anything for Texas history. Um, so it's now the [[...]] Center, but that's where the law labor records are that Ruth Allen collected. And they, and that's extensive. Not as big as ours, but it's extensive.

Well, my daughters have offered to buy me one, but I inherited these great old desks. I hate to get rid of 'em. Yeah. Well,

Well, I think it helped bring me to life, uh, dealing with all these labor people and lawyers and academics and politics. It all, it all fulfilled me. I, I, I wanted to, uh, I wanted to do something with the, um, liberal labor community. I wanted to have fun doing it. Um, I enjoyed teaching. Uh, so it, uh, along with the classroom, um, uh, that, uh, gave me all I wanted. Mm-hmm. Of course, a marriage, two children. Yeah. It's all part of it too.

Of. That's right. . But they didn't do it. So, uh, that was our biggest challenge. It would've been a bigger challenge if I'd been chairman and the department elected me chairman two or three times, but I never wanted to serve under him, and I just turned it down. Mm-hmm. He would, well, he would never have picked me anyway. I just told him I wasn't interested. Mm-hmm. Um, and I'm glad really that would, I had good friends who became all my good friends became chairman, actually. Um, well, most of 'em. Um, but they got bogged down on the job and it delayed their research, which they really liked better. Um, it takes a certain mind to be an administrator and you gotta enjoy it. And I think I enjoy research more, and I think most historians do. Mm-hmm. And teaching one or the other, a vote. Uh, and you don't do much teaching or research as a chairman. You're just too absolve absorbed in all this other stuff. A lot of

Management and stuff.

Management.

No, I don't agree with that. Uh, I mean, uh, anyone coming into Texas who doesn't speak English would be better off if you learned it. Uh, but, um, we have people who speak Spanish and they're elderly and they can't learn a new language and they're Texans. I don't have any problem with that. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I'm, I'm gonna be serious, curious to see how it carries out, especially if, uh, you know, considering how many resources it takes for the, uh, you know, the average

So you can answer this next question for either yourself or for your own grandchildren, but what do you think is, or was the best part about being a young person or a kid in this community, or just Texas in general for you, since you grew up in Austin?

All right. Another sort of random question here, but, uh, what chores did you have to do when you were younger and what chores do you sort of do today?

My parents did not ask much of me in chores. Uh, and maybe they should have, uh, um,

My parents do that with me too, so, yeah. That has not changed.

Right. ? Yeah. I guess not. Um, chores, I, I can't really think of any of them. Maybe I carried out the garbage once or twice. Um, they did want me to keep my room sort of need, but there was only one brother and we usually, well, we're not, we sometimes we're in the same room when we were growing up mm-hmm. Um, so we sort of had to keep it neat. And that was not a big house. So, um, at least in our early years. Um, but I don't really remember very many children. Mm-hmm.

Now, today, I, I do carry out the garbage a lot and then go to the stores. And my wife does all that stuff too. We both do all the usual things. Sometimes she has me vacuuming and she can talk me into changing my bed.

Yeah. So these ones are truly just random questions, but have you ever told a story about another person, thinking the other person was not near you, and then sort of had like a, almost a cinematic turned around and saw that person was near you or had overheard

. I don't exactly remember how we managed that. We didn't know what we were doing. Uh, but what we were saying was something that he denied. Um, but it wasn't that terrible mm-hmm. Um, and he thought he was being misunderstood. Mm-hmm. But, um, but it definitely was awkward.

Alright. What do you think was the, uh, golden decade at least, in your opinion, of a pop music,

Pop music? Well, for me it was the sixties with, uh, Peter Paul and Mary and, uh, the Chad Mitchell Trio. And, uh, uh, the Beatles came along. I I was more enamored with folk music, but some of the Beatles were spoken be, um, and, um, well, I was with labor leaders once, a couple of 'em, I don't know where we were. We went into this tavern outside, probably outside of Austin, somewhere around Flew to real or someplace like that. And they were having a, a country singer come in. I'm more into folk than country, but they're related. And anyway, they were dragging me along. And, uh, we had the place to ourselves and we were up in a balcony, open balcony. The performer was down on stage. He had just gotten married. And he, uh, he asked us if we would sit with his wife.

Alright. Well that concludes the, uh, questions that I have. There's one more part of the interview that's optional if you want to do it. It's just reading a, a brief passage that was created in the 1980s, um, about growing up in Texas. It's completely fictional, but it's again, just part of the sort of linguistic element. If you'd like to do it, I'd be, uh, happy to have you read here on my computer, but if not, that's

Alright. That's the conclusion of that passage. Alright. So that's the conclusion of our interview. If you have any other questions, please just let me know and, uh, if you'd like a ut t-shirt or anything I can send as a thank you for this. I really appreciate it. I found this very interesting. I've done a lot of these and this has been my, my favorite interview so far. Definitely

So I, I I really liked hearing about uh, Austin because uh, I feel like people are, my professors are always griping about how the old Austin was so much cooler. And so I told my, my parents went to ut so I told my parents about that and they were like, well our professors were also always griping about how the old Austin was cooler. I think the, uh, so I think the old Austin is just however Austin is, whenever you're like 20, you know, doing That's probably right. Young, young people things. Yeah. Yeah. That is probably right. Alright, well I'm gonna stop the recording now.