The Whole Shebang
(With
recognition to the Monty Python sketch, “You were lucky…” Treat yourself; find
it on You Tube.)
Merriam-Webster
says the origin of “shebang” is unknown. No matter. What’s of importance to us
today is how the word is most commonly used, in the phrase: “the whole
shebang.” Why the whole shebang?
But first a
quick detour to note the dictionary’s definition of “shebang” as “everything
involved in what is under consideration.” OK. But why the whole shebang,,,,?
First voice: “Yes, we
had the whole shebang at our house this weekend.”
Second voice: “You were
lucky. When we were growing up, when things were good we could afford only half
a shebang. We could only dream of having a whole shebang.”
Third voice: “Half
a shebang? Sheer luxury. Our sixteenth of a shebang was so small you
could fit it in a matchbox. And we had to share it among 17 of us.”
Fourth voice: “You at
least had a shebang. Not only did we not have any shebang, we didn’t even have
any druthers. I’ll never forget my father at our kitchen cardboard box (we
couldn’t afford a table) shaking his head and saying over and over, ‘If I had
my druthers.’”
First voice: “Well, my
dad said that even though we had a whole shebang, he would far preferred to
have had his druthers.”
Third voice: “My dad
said he used to have his druthers but lost most of them during Covid.”
Second voice: “You’re
lucky he’s still got some. The IRS took all of ours.”
Fourth voice: “At least
you got to enjoy yours for a while. We’ve never known what it’s like to have
any druthers in the first place.”
First voice: “Well,
come over to my place and I’ll show them to you, the whole shebang.”
[300 words]
