A young child's view of politics

To the editor:

I have a funny little story to tell, and since this is an election year, it is time to tell it. I was born and raised in Cape Girardeau, Part of that time we lived at 442 College St.

One day when I was a small child, I went into Charley Dietiker's grocery store. Charley was talking to a man and turned and asked me, "Are you a Democrat or Republican, Patsy?"

I answered, "I'm a Catholic."

Charley and that many broke out into loud laughter.

Of course, I didn't know why they laughed. Years later I remembered the episode and thought how funny it was. We moved away from Cape Girardeau in 1955.

PATRICIA ANN (COX) BLANKENSHIP, Westville, Ill.