We lived in New York, in the
suburbs, but we used to ‘go to the city’ often. For dinner, to shop, or to go
to a museum. One of the most memorable ‘sights’ my mother would take us to was
The Tombs.
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
The Tombs
is the colloquial name for the Manhattan Detention Complex[1]
(formerly the Bernard B. Kerik Complex[2]),
a jail
in Lower Manhattan at 125 White Street, as well as the popular name of a
series of preceding downtown jails, the first of which was built in 1838 in the
Egyptian
Revival style of architecture.[1]
As we would stand on the
sidewalk and look up at the tall building, the female inmates would yell down
from the high windows. I’m sure they were yelling obscenities but I don’t
recall what was said, or even if you could understand what they were saying.
I don’t know why my mother
brought us there.
But I do remember how it made
me feel. I felt sorry for the poor women locked up. I never thought about what
they had done to be put there. And I’m not sure if sympathy was my mother’s
intent. (Although, whenever I killed an ant or spider she used to say,”Awww,
now his poor wife and children will wonder what happened to him when he doesn’t
come home tonight.” So maybe it was empathy she was trying to instill in us.)
Kind of a strange memory.
Perhaps she was trying to say 'behave or else'!...lol.
ReplyDeleteStrange memories can sometimes be the most powerful.
ReplyDeleteKnowing your mother as I do, I'd say she was - in her own way - giving what she could to them...via empathy.
ReplyDelete