Spic and Span
ENG-101-19- English Comp I
09/21/2013
“Spic and Span”
I remember watching television commercials when I was about 5 or 6 years old, for a product called Spic and Span. It was used to mop your floors to a glorious shine and smelled heavenly. Whenever my mother mopped our house filled entirely with hardwood floors, the smell wafted through our home and everything felt so clean. It was in my first grade class that I first heard the word Spic used other than in the commercials I’ve seen. I began to wonder if it meant more something else besides spotless, or nice and clean. I was so happy the summer of 1973, we moved from our little apartment on 168th street in Manhattan to a beautiful high rise in Riverdale, doorman and all. Our apartment had a wrap- around terrace about 20 feet long with a front and center view of the Hudson River. I felt like my brother and myself were the only Hispanic kids living in Riverdale. Most of the children in the neighborhood were either Caucasian or Japanese. Back in the 1970’s a lot of executives from Japan were supplied apartments in the prestigious Riverdale by their corporations. When I entered the first grade that September I felt so grown up! Now, I no longer had to take naps, and I was going to get homework! It’s funny to think that I was once excited about homework. My classroom was so pretty with a lot of windows and colorful art surrounding me. In the back of our classroom we had a mini-library set up with small cushiony chairs and a large area rug. My teacher Mrs. Kovax allowed us to borrow one book per week and I loved taking a book home every Friday. Mrs. Kovax had two twin sons Sean and Sam that were in her class. I envied them so much and imagined how lucky they were to have their Mom as their teacher too. I can still vividly recall how they looked. Both had red curly hair and a massive amount of freckles and they were mean. Sean and Sam would constantly bully the entire class and
09/21/2013
“Spic and Span”
I remember watching television commercials when I was about 5 or 6 years old, for a product called Spic and Span. It was used to mop your floors to a glorious shine and smelled heavenly. Whenever my mother mopped our house filled entirely with hardwood floors, the smell wafted through our home and everything felt so clean. It was in my first grade class that I first heard the word Spic used other than in the commercials I’ve seen. I began to wonder if it meant more something else besides spotless, or nice and clean. I was so happy the summer of 1973, we moved from our little apartment on 168th street in Manhattan to a beautiful high rise in Riverdale, doorman and all. Our apartment had a wrap- around terrace about 20 feet long with a front and center view of the Hudson River. I felt like my brother and myself were the only Hispanic kids living in Riverdale. Most of the children in the neighborhood were either Caucasian or Japanese. Back in the 1970’s a lot of executives from Japan were supplied apartments in the prestigious Riverdale by their corporations. When I entered the first grade that September I felt so grown up! Now, I no longer had to take naps, and I was going to get homework! It’s funny to think that I was once excited about homework. My classroom was so pretty with a lot of windows and colorful art surrounding me. In the back of our classroom we had a mini-library set up with small cushiony chairs and a large area rug. My teacher Mrs. Kovax allowed us to borrow one book per week and I loved taking a book home every Friday. Mrs. Kovax had two twin sons Sean and Sam that were in her class. I envied them so much and imagined how lucky they were to have their Mom as their teacher too. I can still vividly recall how they looked. Both had red curly hair and a massive amount of freckles and they were mean. Sean and Sam would constantly bully the entire class and