By: Kenneth M. Kapp

I was waiting for the bus and watched over the top of my newspaper as two boys skipped down the street taking turns pushing each other. The kid in the plaid shirt shoved his friend and challenged, “So you say!” The one in the polo shirt fell back but quickly took up the chase. Two seconds later it was his turn, “No, so you say!”

Plaid turned around and stuck out his tongue. “You’re just a baby.”

“Ha, baby is your mother.” Polo spun on his heels, put his hands on his hips, and bending over, pointed his buttocks at Plaid.

Plaid put his thumbs in his ears and waved his fingers back at Polo. “Sticks back on you.” And then remembering that hands on hips was a critical part of taunting, he took a wide-angle stance, placed his hands appropriately, and taunted, “Your mother, your mother!”

Polo held up his right hand and slowly folded his fingers counting, “Finger and five, finger and four, finger and three, finger and two.” Then he took a deep breath and they both yelled, “Finger and one, it’s time to run!”

They took off again, shouting, “So you say, so you say!”

I was curious; this seemed to be a new game. I was tempted to run after them and ask what this was all about but they appeared to be having fun and I was sure I could find further information on the internet when I got home later that night.

Well, I forgot and remembered several times, the last when I was brushing my teeth before going to bed. “No time like the present,” I muttered through the bubbles of the toothpaste. I rinsed my mouth and went into the study. Upon turning on my laptop, a quick search of “So you say,” yielded two articles on a recent debate in Congress. Both reported a shouting match that had developed with fist-shaking. It was accompanied with shouts of, “So you say; so you say!”

I scratched my head and went to bed, knowing that there was nothing I could say!

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Kenneth M. Kapp lives with his wife in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, writing late at night in his man-cave. He enjoys chamber music and mysteries.