This was told to me as a true story several years ago. There was a small woman who lived in the American west in the 19th century. After her husband passed away, neighbors wondered how she would manage to discipline her 3 overgrown sons, who were adult in years, but not in their behavior. Some of her neighbors were passing by her cabin one day, when they heard screams from inside. Suddenly the door burst open, and the three sons poured out of the cabin. Their mother followed behind them, a bullwhip in her hand. Every few seconds, she would get close enough to pop one of the sons across his rear with the whip. He would scream. By the time she had chased them out of sight, each of the sons had received several licks with the whip. After that, the neighbors stopped worrying about her ability to handle discipline problems. I want to point out that I'm not in any way endorsing the mother's behavior. I don't think the whip was an appropriate instrument of discipline. I had an uncle, who had a scared back for the rest of his life, after the last time his father used a whip on him. |