Dolly Parton Thinks of This Embarrassing Story Whenever She Needs to Feel Humbled
Dolly Parton has been a massive star for the majority of her life. But she never forgets where she came from. Whenever she feels she’s getting “too big for [her] britches,” she thinks of this story.
The slop bucket
Parton grew up in a one-bedroom shack in the mountains of East Tennessee, along with her 11 siblings. The family bathroom was outside. But, in case of emergencies, the Partons did have an indoor toilet situation set up in the closet.
“There were times in the middle of the night when it was very inconvenient to dress and go out into the cold just to take a leak,” Parton wrote in her 1994 memoir, Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business. “For these times there was a little room, actually a closet, that had in it what was called a ‘slop jar’ or ‘slop bucket.’ It was actually an enameled pot with flared sides that was made to accommodate a woman squatting over it to do her business.”
The closet didn’t have a door, but it did have a curtain hung on a piece of wire. In the night, after the fire died down, the set up actually provided a good amount of privacy, according to the “Jolene” singer.
Dolly attempted to quietly use the closet bathroom after a date late one night
One night, when Parton was about 16, she came home late after being out on a date. Everybody else was asleep, so she tried to move around as quietly as she could, because she didn’t want her parents to know how late she’d been out.
“I was absolutely bustin’ to pee, so I fumbled my way through the dark until I found the curtain to the closet and stepped inside,” wrote Parton. “I dropped my panties and hiked up my skirt and assumed the position over the slop jar. I was feeling relieved in a physical sense and quite grown-up and somewhat smug that I ‘pulled it off,’ so to speak.”
But then, suddenly, Parton felt something cold on her bare skin.
“A raccoon had gotten into the house, and unbeknownst to me, we were sharing the closet as well as a very intimate moment,” she wrote. “When I felt that cold nose on my butt, I screamed bloody murder and literally peed all over myself.”
The memory keeps the Queen of Country humble
When Parton screamed, she woke up the whole house—it caused quite the scene.
“Daddy grabbed the poker to fend off an intruder,” she wrote. “ Mama started praying. The little kids cried, and the big kids just ran around confused.”
But as soon as everyone realized what had happened, they had a good laugh at the “Down From Dover” singer’s expense. That is, everyone except for the raccoon.
“Once the lights were turned on, he acted like any man caught in a compromising position with a lady and bolted for the door,” wrote Parton.
It’s a story that’s stuck with the “Coat of Many Colors” singer for a lifetime.
“I often think of that moment at times when I’m feeling ‘too big for my britches,’ and it tends to have a humbling effect,” she wrote.
