In the second grade, at Bay Crest Elementary school in Tampa, I remember a girl named Magdalena playing checkers against another kid from her class.
The other kid touched one of the checkers but did not move the piece. Magdalena, for several minutes, shook her head and repeated
YOU TOUCH IT YOU GOTTA MOVE IT!
YOU TOUCH IT YOU GOTTA MOVE IT!
Demonstratively shaking her head in disapproval, repeating those seven words, she illustrated her point by touching the checker and moving it to a legal position, then moving it back to its original square on the checkerboard.
By demonstrating how to touch a checker, then move it, she offered visual cues implying that he, having touched the checker, should follow her example and move the piece.
She had long, long hair and wore Pippi Longstocking type outfits.
I felt her commitment to this unwritten rule was self-serving. I felt it stemmed from believing her opponent had limited options by moving that piece, and that victory would be hers once he, according to her prediction, wasted his move.
If the details of this memory seem too thorough, it only reflects the nature of her tirade. I don’t know how many times she repeated the statement but it seemed like all of eternity. The fact that I remember it tonight, over 30 years later, could prove that she has said it all along, and will say it forever.
She never embellished or modified the statement. I shortened the phrase in my mind to “TOUCH IT YOU GOTTA MOVE IT,” unconsciously editing out a redundant use of YOU.
A teacher, very tall, walked over to the table but soon walked back to her desk, bringing no resolution to the matter.
Today I think of this one-line lecture any time I see a chess or checkers board.
Recurrance of this memory has more recently found another slot in my mind: Listening to the song Pork-U-Pine, by Jeff Beck, the sound of the female voice that cuts in to the song sounds exactly like I remember Magdalena’s voice.
Magdalena was patient, righteous, earnest, but her lecture still had a whine about it. Just like the Pork-U-Pine girl.
