Reh-Vee-Yeh

Yesterday we helped my sister move. Moving is never simple for us. I suppose there are people out there who do it well. My family didn't move much (at all in my memory) so we don't have much practice.

Yesterday was blessedly smooth for an endeavor of this scope. It wasn't a long move. It wasn't a lot of stuff. But it was with somewhat short notice (one week) and involved driving through Boston at rush hour with a super packed U-Haul van and my sister's car, which already broke down once this week. We got to the apartment around 7:00, just in time to unpack and then eat chinese food while watching the sun set over Chelsea.

My sister's landlord was there to greet us. He was a somewhat eager man who passed the time while my sister read her lease by asking where our family was from. "My grandfather was from the north end" I replied. "What street?" he asked. Turns out his family is from one street away from my family. "Someone's gotta know someone!" he said exhuberantly. Yes, I suppose they probably do. On his way out, he asked if I'd gotten the pronunciation down yet. "It's prnownst 'Reh-Vee-Yeh', y'know" he said, then shook my hand, crushing it. Yet another man who believes in the value of the extremely firm hand shake.

Note to men. While I do appreciate men who shake my hand without acting like they are indulging a child in a grown up pantomime, breaking a bone or leaving a bruise is not going to make me think well of you. Here's how I believe my hand should be shaken.
(a) extend and position your hand for a real handshake and not some fucked up pseudo-chivalrous finger clutching thing
(b) grasp my hand fully (and not my fingers or it will be more likely to hurt me when you grip)
(c) while actually shaking hands, do not hold my hand like it is a fragile bird or grip it like a set of pliers
(d) look me in the eye and say whatever it is that needs saying "Hello Petite Flower Goddess. It's so good to finally meet you," "I'm Tony da landlowed, nice to meet yous," or whatever
(e) smile sincerely or at least look like this doesn't make you uncomfortable, horny, or put upon

I guess it could be worse. Humans could sniff one another's butts like some other mammals.

Sore hands notwithstanding, my sister is now officially moved into her new apartment just north of Boston. The north shore. This is a big deal since we were south shore raised. I hope she can make the transition ok. Blue line instead of red, "reh-vee-yeh" instead of "r'veyya".

I think the most amusing part of the day was when my sister was on my phone trying to direct our brother onto her street from the main connector between Revere and Boston.The conversation went something like this.
Sister: Ok...let's see. Do you see the church with the big blue Mary out front?
Brother: Huh? What church? Good lord. What did you move into? Where the fuck am I? Oh...there's the T. I'm turning near the bridge.
Sister: The T? You're at the station? What side? Is there a dunkin donuts nearby?
Brother: I just passed one. Do I want to turn left or right? Oh my god...what the hell is that?
Sister: What's what?
Brother: Look at that girl's hair! I just turned...
Sister: Is there an Italian eatery on your left and an Italian bakery on the right?
Brother: There's something that sells sandwiches, canoli, italian ice...wait, they both do. And there's another. Italian ice and canoli, coffee....
Sister: (pause) Is the sun on your left or right?
Me (to my sister): Give me the phone. (into the phone) Do you see a dunkin donuts?

One interesting thing of note for me. The cumulative effect of the trip to Providence and this recent excursion into the depths of the north shore has reactivated my accent. According to my friend Maria, my accent came back as soon as I moved back to New England. She's partly right. I think I picked up my native prosody again when I moved here, but the pronunciation of specific sounds in words was still pretty flat. Last night I caught myself not only dropping "r"s but also inserting glides where they had been and inserting "r"s where none should ever have existed.