Abuse When She Was a Child

Heard on the train from New York to Pittsburgh yesterday: A middle-aged and an older woman behind me were talking and got on to Penn State football. The younger one said she had gone to a practice and got a picture with Joe Paterno’s son. The older woman said, “There won’t be another Joepa.” (Of the spelling I am not sure.)

The younger woman agreed and said “It’s sad the way that whole thing went down.”

The older woman replied: “When I was a child, you know what we called it? ‘Playing around.’ Today it would be called ‘abuse.’ It changes with the generations. But we didn’t think anything of it.”

That she said with confidence. And then she said something about “that boy in the shower” and the suicides she’s read about and in a few seconds her voice trailed off.