it was wonderful to slide around , banging against the wheel wells , hollering out the open tailgate , shouting impertinent phrases , ridicule , and rude noises at anyone that we thought looked remotely like idiotic easterners ; pale austere ladies wearing black net veils over the upper half of their faces and whose throats sparkled with short crystal necklaces ; overweight men wearing graveyard expressions and gray suits ; boys in dressy shorts and matching hats , especially ones with propellers perched jauntily on the top and spinning slowly as though indicating the syrupy flow of their self-satisfied thoughtsthey would be captains of industry in smoke-clogged , over-populated , and freezing cities .