I do not remember now if we were in Sioux City IA or it was Waterloo IA. I must have been about four years old. My father was a boilermaker (welder) and the union sent him there to work on a project. My mother and I went with him.
We were staying in a hotel. It must have been about 1945.
I remember being in the basement of the hotel and there were all sorts of things all over the basement. I can remember music instruments hanging from the ceiling of the basement.
I was down in the basement with the janitor. I remember him standing across the basement from me. I think he was masterbating. He may have told me to do the same thing. I do not remember if he did or not.
I do remember that I went to our room and I think I said something to Jim or Betty (my father and mother) about “…no white stuff came out…”
I do not remember what happened then. I do seem to remember that we moved to a different place and I remember a couple of cheap little toys that I had. One was a red winged sort of horse (Mobil Oil pegasus). It was from a gas station or something it was their logo or design or something. I also had a little device that was a wheel with a flint on it and I could push a plunger and sparks would fly from around the wheel.
I also remember that there was very bad flooding in that city at that time. They might be why my father was working there. He might have been there to repair the city power plant boilers or something like that.
I never remember any discussion with Jim and Betty about the incident. It was just a sort of distance memory. As far as I know it had no effect on me.
Over 40 years later I asked Betty about it. My father had passed away. I asked her if she remembered any of that. She looked very funny and lowered her voice and said that she remembered it.
She said that my father went and punched the janitor and they kicked us out of the hotel! I could tell she did not want to talk about it so that is all I know.
I wonder if my father told the hotel people why he punched the janitor? I can not believe that would kick us out if he did tell them. I suspect that my father and mother did not want to discuss it or talk about it.
Now with all the talk in the news about molested kids and everything I wonder why was a 4 year old kid allowed to be in the basement of the hotel with some man. But I think those were different times. I do not think people worried about that sort of thing. I know when I was a kid I road my bike all over and stayed out until it got dark. It was the same with trick or treating. All of the kids went all over to every house and no one worried or checked or candy. Times have changed.
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