It was summer, and we were in Oklahoma again. Back from the east coast, and our urban life style.
It was early in the morning, and I was at Aunt Katy’s house. I was not very old, I’m thinking 3rd or 4th grade. She asked me if I wanted to go out to the ranch that day; they were going to make steers. That caught my interest as I thought steers came into the world the usual way; I did not know they were manufactured. Being an inquisitive child I asked her, “How do you make steers?”
She replied, “Well you know, they cut off their #%$”. I looked at her perplexed not understanding what #%$ meant. She proceeded to go through a list of slang terms for that portion of the male anatomy, with me looking puzzled the whole time. Finally, in desperation, she said, “They cut off their testicles.”
“Oh”, I said. There was a word I finally understood and being not only an inquisitive child but precocious I quickly cross referenced all the previous attempts back to this word. I learned several words that day for which my mother would have grabbed the soap bar had she heard me saying them.
I did not go watch steers being manufactured that day. I don’t remember if that was my decision or Aunt Katy’s decision, I suspect the later.