When I was a young girl it was imperative that I behave like a young lady. Despite the fact that my darling brother felt the need to punch me whenever he passed by I was severely reprimanded for my unladylike performance when I retaliated by kicking him in the shins. Young ladies were not to act like tomboys and growing up with two older brothers that feat was not an easy accomplishment. Although having two older brothers was an asset at times they were none too eager to come to my assistance when needed but sometimes the threat was all that was required. When I was about 8-10 it was my chore to take supper to my dad at his shop. Across from our house was a small lane the width of one car called Brody Lane but was best known as "Sneak Street" because it meandered behind the local shops and places of business and was a great short cut. In daylight it was fine but in the evening, especially on cold winter nights when the wind was blowing through the trees and making weird sounds it was very dark and eerie. My dad would always say "Make sure to go around the main street as it is safer" - our town did have its share of drunks and bums and they tended to hang out in this lane behind the stores and close to the bootleg outlets. My dad's supper always contained a milk bottle of very hot tea with a cardboard stopper - why we did not own a thermos is beyond me as this trip took place four night of the week. It was not like the thermos was not invented or anything as it was a coal mining town and lunch boxes and thermos bottles were readily available. Anyway, as they say, "a penny saved is a penny earned" and indeed the hot bottle served a purpose on the cold dark nights not only to warm me up but I was comforted by the fact that if ever anyone even tapped me on the shoulder I had a weapon - a bottle of hot tea no less! I could just see the headlines "man hospitalized after being attacked by an eight year old yielding a hot bottle of tea" and being sent to reform school where I can guarantee there was no ladylike behaviour. Another short cut was between a department store and the Chinese restaurant and remembering stories I heard about them catching cats for food I decided in my infinite wisdom one time to just run through this alley only to find a Chinese man sitting on a stoop holding a large knife in his hand and a strange grin through a toothless mouth, I ran like hell but later realized that he was really only chopping veggies and smiled at me - oh the imagination of the young!! All this being said, perhaps a little more self defence should have been taught instead of ladylike manners and I wonder if I would really have used that bottle of tea or would I have dropped it and ran like hell - think perhaps the latter would pertain to a wimp like myself but my overactive imagination got me through some scarey nights on Sneak Street in Glace Bay.