“But whatta ya gonna do?” she says to Mary Pat after finishing a brief rant on the subject. “Right?” “Right,” Mary Pat says. “Whatta ya gonna do.” It’s a refrain they all hold dear. Goes alongside It is what it is and Shit happens. They aren’t poor because they don’t try hard, don’t work hard, aren’t deserving of better things. Mary Pat can look at almost anyone she’s ever known in Commonwealth in particular, or Southie in general, and find nothing but strivers, ballbusters, people who treat ten-ton burdens like they weigh the same as a golf ball, people who go to work day in, day out, and
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