\t\t\t\tIn the second grade, at Bay Crest Elementary school in Tampa, I remember a girl named Magdalena playing checkers against another kid from her class.<\/p>\n
The other kid touched one of the checkers but did not move the piece. Magdalena, for several minutes, shook her head and repeated<\/p>\n
YOU TOUCH IT YOU GOTTA MOVE IT!
\nYOU TOUCH IT YOU GOTTA MOVE IT!<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\nDemonstratively 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
She had long, long hair and wore Pippi Longstocking type outfits.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
A teacher, very tall, walked over to the table but soon walked back to her desk, bringing no resolution to the matter.<\/p>\n
Today I think of this one-line lecture any time I see a chess or checkers board.<\/p>\n
Recurrance of this memory has more recently found another slot in my mind: Listening to the song Pork-U-Pine<\/em>, by Jeff Beck, the sound of the female voice that cuts in to the song sounds exactly like I remember Magdalena’s voice.<\/p>\n