When I was around seven years old, I would sometimes play, Office. I would sit at my dad’s desk which sat in my brothers’ room and pretend I was at work.
My job was to answer my pretend phone and give explicit directions to the other person on the line so they could get to the office without fuss or hassle.
The best way, I would tell them, is to come down Knickerbocker Street.
I would giggle with glee when I would say the word, Knickerbocker and I especially loved it when the caller didn’t catch it the first time and I would have to say it again.
The word, Knickerbocker was heaven for me. For a seven-year-old, it sounded fancy, funny and strange. I had no idea if it meant anything, and the caller was out of luck if they asked me to spell it for them.
But truthfully, there really is a street named, Knickerbocker in Stockton, California, where we were living at the time when I first started playing, Office. It’s technically, Knickerbocker “Drive” but when you’re seven years old, a street is a street, is a street!
And maybe that’s why I never did actually see anyone at the office. They were all looking for my Knickerbocker “Street”.
As of today, at the age of 49, the word, Knickerbocker still makes my heart swoon. Words still delight me; I love stringing them together and I want to honor them by spelling them correctly.
Thank you, dear reader, for coming along for the ride. Should you get lost, the best way to get unlost, is to come down Knickerbocker Street.
~missy salcido wead
8 responses to “Knickerbocker Street”
Aww, such a short story but brought back so many memories of Stockton.
Hi, mom! Yep, I have wonderful memories of Stockton!
I love your post. You really should write a book, go to work for a magazine and write for them. Can’t wait to read your next blog post.
Thank you once again for your generous compliments!
I love it! You really should write a book, or go to work for a magazine and write a column. Can’t wait to read your next blog post.
Thank you so much for your generous compliments! I really do enjoy writing; it makes me happy. We’ll see if this blog takes me anywhere!
Great blog! I would also make sure and add a filter here (captcha) so that it can help stop spam. You will eventually start getting a LOT of spam if you don’t do that. You can also create a contact me form (leaving your email private – so that your email doesn’t receive a bunch of spam either). I look forward to reading more blogs in the future.
Thank you for your compliment and advice! I will have to figure out how to add a filter and create a contact me form but I’ll get there! I just realized yesterday that I received comments from my first blog here and today I just figured out how to respond-ha!