but mary couldnt be brought out in conversation , answering specific questions simply and directly and offering nothing further , no train of thought to follow to one subject after another the way roxy was used to with her friends at the factory , all of them high on the new freedom and financial independence they felt , having so many things in common : men off to war and the worry of it and the children growing up so fast , ailing parents , times a changing , the weather if all else failed them in their brief moments of camaraderie at break time and after work walking to the streetcar .