MY MEMORIES By alonzo Joseph Sherman

1927 - Youth

Bloody Nose

At age three or four years old one-winter day after an ice storm I was playing in the pasture between the barn and the road. There was a toy or something stuck in the ice and I was kicking at it to get it loose. All of a sudden I fell flat on my face. I got up with a bloody nose. I remember running to the house, up over the woven wire fence just like it was not there. When mother stopped the bleeding I was amazed at the size of the blood trail I left in the snow.

Bumble Bee

One day I saw what I thought was a big fat fly on the inside of our front window. I went to squash it, and it was faster than I was and it stung me on the nose. Never liked bumble bees after that.

First Fish

I went fishing at the bridge over Swartz Creek on Cook road. This was about ¼ mile from the house. A fish pole and a can of worms, and a warm summer afternoon, and I was old enough to go fishing by my self. I hook my first fish, a beautiful bright colored sunfish. I grabbed the fish with a death grip in one hand and the pole in the other and ran all the way home to show mother and get her to cook it for me. The fish looked big when I caught it, but very small when cooked.

Marbles

I only took five marbles to school with me each day. If I lost these I would quit playing. Most of the time I would come home with much more than the five I had taken to school.

Dog

We had a dog that was a good mouser. The times when my folks and I came home after dark the dog would be by the kitchen door and wanted to be the first in the house. This meant there was a mouse in the kitchen. The dog would rush in before the lights were on and catch the mouse most of the time. We thought he could even do it blindfolded but never tried it.

1932 - Grade School

General

I attended the Grand Blanc School in Grand Blanc MI. I took the school bus, about a five-mile trip, to the school.

Norene Married

One evening shortly after supper, every thing seemed normal. Then my older sister Norene and her boyfriend Jim Hill came into the house. All of a sudden things changed, my twin sister and I were sent to our rooms. Norene and Jim had just announced they went to Angola, IN and were married. I expect they were given some sort of lecture, but never heard about the details. This matter settled down, and apparently there were no lasting hard feelings.

Sail Boat

During the summer of 1940 I built a sailboat and used it on the Swartz Creek that flowed through the farm. The creek flowed from southeast to northwest so I drifted down stream with the current and used the prevailing northwest wind to sail back. I would sail it from below the small dam just behind the barn nearly the full length of the farm. I built the boat from two inch by twelve inches planks, caulked and nailed together. It was a rectangular box about two feet wide, six feet long and one foot deep. I made a 45-degree angle and nailed it to the bow of the boat to part the water. I made a square sail about four feet and six feet tall from several red and white checked Purina 34% Cow Chow Supplement feed bags. I used a boat oar for a rudder. The only other equipment was a coffee can for bailing out the water. I had taken my Aunt Jo and several of her friends, both of my sisters and their friends, and several of my buddies for rides. My parents were wiser (or less advantageous) because they declined the offer.

Swartz Creek

The Swartz Creek crossed our farm, flowing from the southeast corner to the northwest corner of the farm. I explored this creek many times in all seasons. The dimensions were from about ten to twenty feet wide and nearly a mile long as it zigs zagged through the farm. Typical it was about twelve to eighteen inches deep, but had a few deep holes as deep as six or eight feet. As I got older I also explored both ends, going about a half mile upstream and about a mile or so down stream from the farm. There were several kinds of fish in different locations, small mouth bass, bluegill and sunfish being the most common. There were beaver, muskrat, mink, weasel and fox. There were several varieties of snakes. The largest and prettiest snake was the blue racer, which was about 4 feet long and about as big around as my forearm. There were all sorts of birds, pheasants, herons, cranes, hawks, crows, pigeons and the silly acting killdeer. I loved the creek; it was a good part of growing up on the farm.

1944 - High School

General

I attend the Grand Blanc High School at Grand Blanc, Michigan from 1940-1945. I took the school bus, about a five-mile trip to the school.

4-H Club Purple Ribbon

For a 4-H project I was to train a yearling Guernsey heifer named Marie to the halter, and show her at the 4-H show. For one reason or another, I put off training her until a week before the show. I put the halter on her and all she would do is dig in her heels. I got the small John Deere tractor and tied her behind it, and when her heels got tired she would walk along following the tractor. I would stop, untie her and lead her along the lane until she started digging in her heels again. Then I tied her to the fence, whispered "Put Put" (the noise the tractor made) into her ear, went back and got the tractor and started over. This routine lasted about a week. At the 4-H show I had no way of knowing when she would dig in her heels, but we gave it a try. To my surprise, she never once dug in her heels, even when other people were leading her around the circle. It was customary for the contestants to exchange animals, and let the judge she how both the animal and contestant did with a strange partner. . She behaved perfectly for every one. The judges award us the purple ribbon for best of show. My 4-H leader asked me how I trained her, and for several months he would not believe me. He expected it would have taken all summer to train her.

Deadbeat Customers

I took over a newspaper route from the family who operated the store two miles North of my house where I picked up the papers. This family had worked the route for over ten years. Several of their children as well as the parents did the delivery. They gave me their records and there were several customers that were several months behind in their accounts. One family was over a year behind. I talked to my manger at the Flint Journal about their policy on payment, and he said I was an independent business man and could set any police I wanted. And, what I did not want was to deliver papers and not get paid. I told my customers they must pay me each week or I would not deliver their paper. I held strictly to the policy; If I was not paid I did not deliver. And further more, if this happened once, they were required to pay in advance from then on. Must admit I heard more excuses than I thought were possible about why they could not pay their bill on time. I even got threats that they would have me fired by the Journal. I accepted none of the excuses, and stuck to my policy. None of my customers ever quit. Although I'd stop delivering for some of them until they got paid up, I got payment for every paper I delivered, even from the deadbeats!

Newspaper Route

My newspaper route was eleven miles long. I delivered the Flint Journal, and on Sundays a few Detroit News. I usually rode my bicycle delivering the papers in the afternoon the year around. On the very bad winter days, my Mother or aunt or some other adult family member usually drove me around. I had the route for several years, and never missed a day because of sickness or bad weather. I did have a neighbor boy who took the route if I wanted to go out of town. I picked up the newspaper at a country store two miles North of my house (I'd usually stop at a restaurant 1 mile north of my house for a butter pecan double dipped ice cream cone). From the pick up point I went west half mile and came back; then I went north one mile; then east one mile; then south half mile; then east half mile and back; then south half mile; then west one mile to where I started. I then went south one mile where the route ended (sometimes had another butter pecan ice cream cone). Then the last mile south to my home in time for supper, where I always ate a large meal. I wore out several bicycles doing the paper route. I estimated I rode my bicycles about 8,000 miles.

Newspaper Route Collecting

My basic collection of the bills was done on Saturday, when most people were home. This meant riding the route twice, once for collection in the morning and once for delivery in the evening, which worked fine as far as I was concerned. Some customers would leave their payment in specified places each week, others required ringing their door bell. One farm house that was a quarter mile from the road did not leave their money in their mail box one week as usual, so I went to the house the next day, a Tuesday to discuss the matter. They had the envelope ready but just forgot to put it in the mailbox. I found out this was baking day and they gave me a piece of pie and suggested I take some homemade fried cakes with me. I pulled off the handle grip on my bike handle bar and the lady slipped a half dozen fried cakes on my handle bars. She suggested it could save her a trip to the mail box if I would come to the house each Tuesday, and I could also stock up on fried cakes if I wanted too. This worked well. These were the best fried cakes I have ever eaten. Some were even chocolate covered!

Red White and Blue

During WW-2, while I was in high school I remember many items were colored red, white and blue, a patriotic effort for the war. I especially remember the gummed corners of my photo album that were usually black changed to red, white and blue. The whole school bus fleet that was bright yellow was repainted to red, white and blue.

Student Council

While I was on the Student Council, the biggest item that came up was to pick a mascot for our school. The boys favored the Bulldogs and the girls favored the Bobcats. It was a tough campaign; the hallways were slippery with female tears, as most of the girls were crying because they did not want to be represented by an ugly bulldog. The boys, who where not crying, likewise did not want to be represented by a sissy Bobcat. I saw first hand the power of tears, as the girl won and were all smiles. The boys certainly took the loss much better than the girls would have, and the school mascot is still to this day the Bobcats.

Track Team

I was on the track team, running the half-mile. I was good enough to go to the State Championships in Lansing. I do not remember my best time. Some one said your name would be read over the radio if you were one of the three leaders at the half way mark. I guess that was my few minutes of fame, I was in third place at the half way mark. The assistant coach who selected what we ate for lunch ordered soup for me, thinking I was a shot-put thrower. Just past the halfway mark the soup won, giving me terrible pains in my side, I cannot remember if I finished the race. The head coach came over to check on me and found out what I had eaten and he ripped into the assistant coach. Runners should not eat lots of liquid before a race. I had my fame at the halfway mark, and I knew I was not good enough to be a serious contender, so I just enjoyed the rest of the day. We were a Class B school (medium large); just after my race they ran the mile race for the Class D schools (the smallest). The leader ran his first half-mile faster than anyone else in Michigan had ever run just the half mile race alone. After this everyone one just stopped what he or she were doing and watch in awe as the kid finished in first place, with the fastest one-mile time ever run in Michigan. That kid was FAST!

Trip To Niagara Falls

Several of us guys decided we would go to see Niagara Falls after graduating. As I remember, it was just several guys, and not a Senior class sponsored trip. We took the bus to Detroit, the boat down the Detroit River and across Lake Erie to Buffalo, and a bus to the falls. On the boat, one of the boys bragged that he would not get sea sick, as he had been in a rowboat in rough water. This was a challenge, all the other guys then tried to make him seasick. We had him at the bow watching the waves break; we took him to bottom of the boat to a snack bar where the rough ride and smell of food gets to some people. We also enlisted some crew members to talk to him about the imaginary big storm due in a few hours, a storm that even made most of the crew sick. He got sea sick in smooth water. We slept on the deck in the evening. When we got ready to sleep, all the pillows and deck chairs were taken. We looked around and found several people sleeping on the deck who had pillows. They were by a passageway, which was a good escape route, so we crept up, grabbed their pillows, and made our escape. Just as we turned to escape in the passage way we hear several large thumps, as their heads hit the deck. This made us run faster and farther than we planned. We finally found a quite place and went to sleep, gripping our pillows tightly. By the way, we saw the falls.

Victory Garden

During high school, I personally kept a large victory garden of vegetables for our family. Also on the farm there was a large grape arbor and about 25 fruit trees, mostly apples. In a spot that was rotated each year there was a large patch of potatoes. One spring I was plowing the garden area with a one-horse walk-behind plow, I plowed up perfectly good potatoes. There was an early snow cover that fall that stayed all winter, and the potatoes did not freeze and were in excellent condition.

Plastics Stink

One of the tricks we would play on our buddies when things got boring was to heat up the cigarette lighter and touch it to the plastic dashboard knobs, such as the choke or throttle. The stink was so bad they had to stop the car and everyone would bail out.

Model Airplanes

I had made quite a few model airplanes over several years. For my last model, I made a P-40 Flying Tiger model airplane from a thirty-five cent kit. I modified the standard balsa stick and tissue paper construction to a full covering of balsa wood. I made movable controls for the rudder, elevators, ailerons and flaps. All these movable parts worked from controls from inside of the cockpit. I spent over 100 hours on this model.

Parliamentary Procedure Team

I was president of our Future Farmers of America Parliamentary Procedure Team. In our senior year we went to several levels of competition, and finally won the State finals. We ran circles around all the other teams. During the contest, each team was give five parliamentary procedure rules they had to demonstrate during the allowed time period of ten-fifteen minutes. Each one of our members had several rules he would demonstrate regardless of whether they were called for or not, and we were good at these rules. However, at the state contest they gave use a rule we had never done before- "demonstrate how the chairman can give his opinion." Since we could not discuss among ourselves how to demonstrate these rules I was not sure how we were going to do it. Part way through one of my team members asked me what I thought of the subject that was up for vote. I said I would be glad to give my opinion, but could not do so as the president. So asked our vice-president to take over in my place. I thought he was going to faint. He reluctantly took the gavel, and the first thing he said was for me to give my opinion so he could get back to his seat. I said I was glad to give my opinion, but as he well knew (which he did not) I could not take over as chairman again until the matter was voted on. I thought he was going to faint again. After the contest, he told me he was scared to death, and he hadn't remembered that he was vice-president. Good memory I said, we did not have a vice-president, and I just appointed you. I was not really clear on the rule on how to demonstrate this procedure, so I faked it, and got away with it. Sweat, sweat!

Uncle Earl's Cottage

Uncle Earl, my dad's brother, had a cottage on Loon Lake in Ionia County Michigan. One day he visited our farm and invited my sister Eleanor and myself to go back with him and spend a week at the cottage. One day we took his boat out in the lake and took turns swimming from the boat. After a while, I decided to dive off the boat and see how far I could swim under water. I dove off the boat before my sister returned, and without her in the boat, the boat just took off. When I came up and looked around I was surprised to see how far I had gone underwater. Then I realized I had pushed the boat and the wind kept it going. My sister was closer to the boat than I was, and swimming like mad to catch up to it. I started to swim towards the boat, which was much closer than the shore, but I did not think I could make it and finally found a shallow spot to stand on for a while. Some fishermen saw that we were in trouble and started their motor and towed our boat to Eleanor, and then to me. While swimming towards the boat, I realized I had made a mistake not waiting for Eleanor to return to the boat. I also saw in my mind the Flint Journal's headlines the next day, "Sherman Twins Drown in Lake." On the way back to the cottage we both were hoping that Uncle Earl and his wife had not seen it. But she did, and was pulling her hair out because she had no way to help us. I took a well-deserved tongue licking from her. Then we three agreed it was nothing that uncle Earl needed to know.

Castrating Pigs and Sheep

The year after I left high school my vocational agriculture teacher ask me to help him when he took his class out to a farm to show them how to castrate some pigs and sheep. Just before he was to do his first pig, he showed the class the razor blade he was to use and warned the class how sharp it was. Just as he got the pig held down and in position to cut he again warned the students how sharp the razor was. As he was to make the first cut, the pig wiggled and squealed, and the teacher slipped and put and cut a big gash in his hand. He handed me the razor, and told me to show the class the "right" way to do it. I had seen this done before, but this was my first time, and fortunately things went better for me than for the pigs. When we returned to the classroom to discuss the field trip, I sat at a desk. The only thing on the desk was a Coca Cola ruler with the message that read, "do unto others as you want them to do unto you." I quickly turned the ruler over and hoped this did not apply to pigs and sheep!

1946 - College

General

I attended the Michigan State College, East Lansing MI from September 1946 through February 1950. I earned a BS degree in Soil Science. I worked several jobs, paying part of my tuition and room and board.

Big Bands

Several times during the summer, the owner of the Dells Dance Hall, who I worked for as head waiter and bouncer, would rent the big pavilion on Lake Lansing just out side of town. He would hire big name bands, such as Guy Lombardo, Blue Barron, Les Brown, and Tommy Dorcey etc. Most of the times it was crowded, but one night not many people showed up. I had six-eight waiters working that night and there was work for only one waiter. There were several tables of single girls there, so I suggested to the boss that I have my waiters dance with them, if not they would probably leave. He said. "Well why not." So that kept the waiters busy and the girls buying drinks. The night Guy Lombardo came the boss was extra nervous, he kept pushing me to get every thing ready. I kept telling him we were on schedule and there was no problem. I guess I got fed up with him and the last time he asked I said, "Damn it, boss, there is no problem, just leave me alone. He was a very big man. He had played defense tackle for Michigan State for two years, but could not keep his grades up and they dumped him. He reached over the bar counter, grabbed me by the neck, pulled me over the counter and told me off and fired me. All the waiters came up to him said they quit. The waiters and I were hanging around in the parking lot talking it over, I told them they should not quit and go back to work. Then the boss came out and apologized to all of us and begged us to come back to work. If we did not he would have to cancel the dance. The waiters looked at me for an answer, and I said, "OK boss, but every one gets and extra ten dollars tonight." He agreed.

Dynamite Class

One winter I took a dynamite class. For our field project we were to make some muskrat runs in a large swamp area about twenty-five miles from Lansing. We arrived early in the morning and walked over and generally surveyed the swamp. The swamp was about a half mile long and quarter mile wide, being about forty acres in total. It was snow covered with a thin layer of ice under the snow. The ice was strong enough to hold two-three people in one spot. But it was not too dangerous even if we fell through because there was a solid bottom under the snow/ice/muck at three-four feet. We marked off a line down the center of the long way of the swamp, and then marked quite a few cross lines the narrow way of the swamp. We then placed sticks of dynamite every so many feet along the lines. When a person sets off one stick of dynamite, then the next one is set off by the impact of the first one, etc. The teacher expected the blast would throw the snow/ice /muck up in the air and spread it out in a wide pattern. When all was prepared, we stood around with our cameras waiting for the big show. BOOM, the fist stick went off and just as planned the others followed one by one. When the excitement was over we realized there were no musket runs, the blast sent the material straight up, and it came straight down. We all giggled as the professor was scratching his head trying to come up with an explanation. Next week in class he said he had not accounted for the snow and ice blanket.

Football Training Table

While waiting table in the Student Union dinning room, which was on the second floor, we sent our orders down a dumb waiter to the kitchen in the basement. We only had a sink and some cupboards in our work area on the second floor. We also got the completed order back using the dumb waiter and sent the dirty dishes back using the dumb waiter. During football season, the football team also ate on the second floor in an adjacent room. Their waiters also used the same dumb waiter and work area we used. One evening I noticed three-four uneaten big roast beef dinners sitting on the counter waiting to be sent back to the kitchen. I slipped one dinner into the cupboard under the counter. After I cleaned up the dinning room and our area of the kitchen, and everyone else had left, I enjoyed a big beef dinner. After eating, I would rinse the dish off in the sink and put them back into the cupboard. The next day during the rush I would slip the dish into the dumbwaiter with other dirty dishes. One night out of nowhere the night guard came up behind me and asked in very harsh words- What are you doing? I explained I worked here, and could eat only after all our work was done. Then he wanted to know if I had to pay for the food. I said no, that it was left over from the football training table and it was going to the garbage pail anyway. About the time I expected the handcuffs, but he said, do you think you can get me one also? I said that I probably could and for him to check in the cupboard tomorrow night. I never saw that guard after that, but there was always his empty plate the next day, nicely rinsed off.

Freelance Waiter

I was only one of a few freelance waiters around the Lansing area who could carry a full tray of fifteen-twenty meals over our heads. We were in great demand for all sorts of banquets around town. We would only carry the food from the kitchen to the dinning room and set the tray on a tray holder. Then other waiters or waitress would sever the individual meals. Each job lasted about one hour, and we did get paid well for it, $10.00 a job. I went to one Hotel in downtown Lansing one evening, and before working I always checked the trays to be sure they were not greasy. I made the dirty old one-eyed French cook wash the trays four times before they were clean. He sure got mad, but I was the only person (that evening) that could carry the trays, so he reluctantly did what I asked. When I was done I asked for my pay, and I suppose he was trying to get even, he said I would have to do the pots and pans before he would pay me. I told him I was a professional waiter, and if professionals in this hotel washed pots and pans I would stand beside him and we would do them together. He backed down and paid me. Of all the banquets I worked, I only dropped one tray. One man backed his chair away from the table without looking and tripped me up. A full tray dishes hitting the floor can attract a lot of attention. The manager was there in a split second, and the man accepted full blame, apologized to the manager and me and agreed to pay for the extra meals.

Head Waiter and Bouncer

There was a dance hall called the Dells about two miles east of the Campus. I started waiting tables there on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings. They were within three miles of the campus, so were not allowed to sever hard liquor, but did serve beer and wine. The dance floor was in the center, and on one side was the beer and wine patrons and on the other side was the soft drink patrons. You had to have your age checked to get into the beer and wine side. I started working in the soft drink side. The women who sold tickets would give me a list of telephone reservations and I would make out reservation cards on place them on the table. I would also make a few extra reservations for my own use. I saved them for any latecomers who were willing to tip the headwaiter to get a table next to the dance floor. This was good money. One evening one guy brought his own whiskey, and was showing it off. I told him if the boss saw him he would be asked to leave and never come back, and to keep his bottle under the table out of sight. He said, "don't tell me how to live my life." About a half hour later I went into the rest room when he was coming out, he told me off and threw a big right hook at me, I ducked under it and picked him up on my shoulder and carried him out of the restroom and threw him out the back fire exit door into a snow bank. I went to his table and told his girl friend what happened, and suggested if he did not come back soon she might want to check on him. She said, "oh well, he deserved it." About ten-fifteen minutes later I saw him and dance hall owner coming across the dance floor directly toward me, I moved over to his table and told his girl friend they were coming. The boss jumped my butt and wanted to know why I threw his customer out. I told him, and his girlfriend and the other people at the table said he deserved it. The boss threw them all out, and asked me if I wanted to be his headwaiter and bouncer. I said I would for an extra $10.00 a night. And he agreed. From then on I worked on the beer and wine side were the tips were much better. I hired and fired all the waiters, and made sure the table and the bars were ready for the dance and that they were cleaned up after the dance. I never had to tangle with another customer for the four years I worked there.

Ice Cream Store

Patrick Dougherty, who later married by sister, and I shared a room between East Lansing and Lansing. We were located on Clippert Street about a half mile North of the main road between the two towns. At the corner of Clippert Street and the main road there was a dairy, which of course sold ice cream. Often when I came back from classes I would buy a quart of ice cream and bring it home and share it with Patrick, and via versa. On the best of days we each would buy a quart of ice cream. Not having access to a refrigerator was no problem for us two growing boys!

Lunch Room Over The Bookstore

There was a privately run lunchroom on the second floor over the bookstore on the main street of East Lansing, just across the road from the campus. I would wait table there Monday through Friday for the noon meal. The customers were a mixed group, mostly students and local business people. There was a nice little old lady that ate there every day. She always came during the busy time, and was disappointed if she could not get one of the few tables in front looking over the campus. She had eaten there for years, and had never left a tip. I suggested she come early when they first open, and she could get her favorite table, better service, and we could talk more when not busy. The next day she showed early and every thing went as planned. Later when I was in the kitchen, one of waitress came in and said she had something important tell all of us. She handed me a dime, and said that was the first tip that old lady had ever left. And wanted to know what I did to deserve that, I said I guess that was our secret. I got my dime every day after that. Waiting table in the best of times is hectic, but when some one changes his mind and wants to add something additional at the time you are serving him, it's really a pain. Let's say the person now wants a side order of toast. It will take as long for his toast as it took for whole meal, and the customer wants his toast now. I found out the cook liked a particular brand of whiskey. So every once in a while he got him a bottle. And if I needed something fast, I would just leaned back against the far wall, behind all the waitresses calling in their special needs. The cook would see me there and ask, " what do you need." Then out it came. All the waitresses were trying to find out why I was getting special treatment. Don't think they ever found out.

Model-A Ford

When I roomed on Clippert Street I had a 1929 4-door Model-A Ford. The landlord had a two-car garage, and I was able to use half of the garage. He always kept the garage doors closed. One night I drove in facing the my garage door, and when I got out of the car I could see lights on the garage door, and I though I had turned my head lights off. After a second look, I also saw smoke coming from under the hood. Opening the hood, I saw all the wires coming out of the bottom of the steering column were glowing red. The first tool I saw were some tree loppers, so I grabbed them and cut off those wires. These were all the wires for the lights and the horn. I replaced all those wires by trial and error, as the original wires were the, black and greasy. The Model-A had tall wheels, and was very good for getting through the snow. On the really snowy days the other people on the street waited until I left for class before they went to work. After I found this out, I would drive up and down the street several times to make a better trail for them. They sure appreciated that. One very cold day, my sister and I and our dates, drove the Model-A to Ionia MI and went bowling at our Uncle Earl's bowling alley. On the way back the fuel line kept plugging up. We could clear it by pumping air through the gas line using a hand tire pump, which we had to do a half dozen time on the way home. The next day I was looking to see if I could figure out what caused the problem. All of a sudden the cast iron connector at the bottom of the gas tank broke off in my hand. On the Model-A the gas tank is high so gas is gravity fed to the carburetor. The fitting was inside the car, and gas was running out of the tank into the car. I found a pencil and jammed it into the hole. I estimated the casting was cracked, and some how iced up and plugged the line the night before. After transferring the gasoline to a buddy's car, I was able to replace the casting, and all worked well after that.

Swimming Class

I was minding my own business studying in the library one day, when a friend came up and asked if I had time to see something very interesting. He had that twinkle in his eye, and since I did not have a class for several hours I went with him. I had to swear not to tell anyone else. We went to the new Gym and went through an unmarked and unlocked door and down and around several unfinished passageways. He knocked on another unmarked door; the door opened and a guy told us to be quite and come in. We entered a totally dark room. At the far end was a round porthole looking into the swimming pool, about a foot below the surface of the water. Yes it was interesting. The girls swim class of about hundred nude girls of all sizes; shapes and colors were swimming and diving in all directions. About two weeks later, the authorities found out and the doors were locked.

Waiter At The Student Union Dining Room

I waited table in the Student Union dining room Monday-Friday evenings. The customers were mostly older person, not students, parents visiting their students, college administrators and teachers, and persons doing business with the college. It was a sit down dining room with white tablecloths and located in a nice and pleasant room, probably the best restaurant in the town. We served only the evening meal and only full meals. One time I went to take an order from a couple, and realized I had no more slips left in my order pad, so I just memorized the order. When I got back to the kitchen I quickly wrote it down on a new order pad. When the couple was done eating and paying their bill, the man said he had eaten out for over twenty years, and this was the first time a waiter or waitress had not written down his order, and I got it correct as well. He thought that this was great and gave me an extra big tip. Of course, I did not tell him this was the first time I had ever done it, and it was purely in self-defense. The more I thought about this and the big tip; I realized it might be the thing to do. So I started doing it on one table, then on several tables of two. Next I tried tables of both two and four. I got so I could easily handle about twenty persons at one time, and for the most part, my tips doubled.

Lobsters and The Salad Bar

I went to the best downtown hotel in Lansing hoping to get work as a waiter. The headwaiter told me they only hired girls. Just as I was leaving one of the waitresses took a short cut from the kitchen to the dinning room with a large tray of food, but used the wrong door. Another waitress was going through the door correctly. After the big bang, there were six dinners all over the floor. The headwaiter fired the first girl on the spot. I asked him if he wanted to hire a temporary waiter, and he said, "Yes go see what you can do for those folks who are looking at their dinner on the floor." I worked there for several weeks until they hired a new girl. I expect a very clean kitchen. The kitchen was clean in all respects except that live lobsters were kept at the far end of the salad bar would crawl over all the salads trying to get to the other end of the bar. Just before the lobsters were about to jump off the table the cook would pick them up and return them to their proper place. They would crawl across the salads four-five times during one meal. GROSS.

Speech Class

Our speech teacher said he expected full attendance at next Friday's 4pm class. He said those who did not attend would wish that they had. It was the last class before a holiday, and attendance was generally poor. He properly scared all of us and after taking role he congratulated us for 100% attendance. The assignment was given several weeks in advance. Everyone would pair up to demonstrate how a gentleman would properly escort his lady to dinner in a restaurant, including the dining and leaving the restaurant. One couple volunteered to go first. The teacher told them they had to out into the hall, and come into classroom treating it as a restaurant. They went into the hall, then came back and put on a very good demonstration, even communicating with the class. When they left, they properly said they enjoyed the meal and the conversation with their other customers, and closed the door. We waited and waited and waited for them to come back. The teacher went into the hall, and came back and said, "I think they just started their vacation."

Continued On Next Page