Tomato, Tomahto, Pompoms, POMPONS :))
Susan WashingtonWhen I came up with the idea to write my story I was going to title it "PULLING CHAIN". That term is prison lingo for leaving county and going to prison. Of course when I first heard it I didn’t know ANY prison lingo so I took it LITERALLY: ))
After I was handed down my prison sentence another inmate told me it wouldn't be long until I would be PULLING CHAIN and that it would be VERY VERY hard. After hearing that I got really scared and went into my cell and began cry. The picture that came into my mind was of me shackled together with other inmates pulling big heavy chains ( I don’t know where we were pulling them) with sweat pouring down our faces in the sweltering Texas sun. It was a very frightening picture in my imagination so I began to cry harder. My favorite guard stopped by my cell and asked me what on earth was wrong because I was usually so happy and upbeat. I told her that I was so scared to have to pull those heavy chains and I wondered what on earth was the purpose of pulling them and where we were taking them ???
She began to laugh hysterically and told me the “prison” definition of PULLING CHAIN and I began to laugh with her . She was really sweet and somewhat concerned about how I was going to survive this prison experience. I was smart just not very street smart and she saw that.
The PULLING CHAIN story always made me laugh and that’s why I chose it as the title but my dear friend Melinda Erskine Proza came up with another title “From POMPOMS to Prison” and when she suggested it I just knew it was right. It just fit perfectly into what I was trying to do , who I was , who I was perceived to be and who I am now. It was me : )). She is so very talented !!
So the name was changed and things began to move forward. In November I learned that my very dear friend Kristie Smith was going to write an article about my story for the DMN and I reached out to another dear friend Jamie Bridges Hawk for help. She works in public relations and has giving me wonderful advice, it was she who suggested I get a website in place but she recommended I change the spelling of the title to Pompons, with an “n” at the end – because that was technically the correct spelling. So that is why my title is “FROM POMPONS TO PRISON” instead of “FROM POMPOMS TO PRISON” .
It is important that I be technically correct if I am going to include stories about how some of the murderers in my dorm couldn’t spell correctly in Scrabble and how it didn’t matter because as I learned from experience if a scary murderer says a word is a word it is, I will never question that again : ))) I probably could have told you this in two or three sentences but you know me I’m a little wordy : )))
Reader Comments (1)
:) I always wondered why it was spelled that way - I learned something new today! :) Good post - made me smile and laugh!