Throwback Thursday - The Notebooks

from 864 Humorous Cust from the Twenties and Thirties
selected and arranged by Carol Belanger Grafton
Dover Publications

To clear up some confusion, the Notebook passages posted on Throwback Thursday were written by my father and found by me after he passed away. They were his attempt to tell the family history. He was in his late 80s or early 90s when he wrote them. Today's chapter:

I kept going to the Center evenings. One night, Charlie Arnold saw me. He approached me and said that after July 4th, he would be running a program for young children and wanted to know if I would help out.

The children would be doing class work and would also have lunch there. And I and another boy would be needed to help in the kitchen after lunch washing and drying dishes. We would also have lunch. At the end of the Summer, I would get a stipend of $10.00 as a thank you. He said it wasn't much but that was all the Center could afford.

That got me out of the house and I would be out of the way. Although neither my father or mother pushed me to find a job, they did express their desire that I should consider going back to school. And there was no pushing on this issue. It was dropped. Years later I discovered that I had been had.

On July 5, I showed up at the Center and things began "play school". The children had been signed up well before the opening. Things worked out well the children were assigned to their teachers which were college Sophomore or higher level. They were hired by the Center Director and he certainly knew how to pick them. All girls and nice lookers.

I was called Lefty as I was a lefthander player and the other boy was called Righty. Other than washing and drying dishes we had a lot of time and we helped the girls out. Or to be more correct, I went nuts and couldn't make up my mind which one I wanted. They were all lovely and because I went from one to the other they said I was fickle. But I was having fun.

About the end of July, Charlie began approaching the subject that I should consider going back to school. He said consider it. And asked if I would think about it. I said I would. He also said that during the regular Center season, I could help after school with the games, dances, etc. And he also mentioned that while I was a big help at the playschool, there were a lot better jobs out there if one had at least a high school diploma. And of course even better if like the teachers a the playschool as they would be able to get good jobs because they were all going to be [ed: college ] Juniors or Seniors when they went back in September. Some would graduate in the following Spring. They had resumes and some also had experience at other places.

After playschool, we went swimming or on a picnic, voyages down the harbor on one of those water trips as the ship was docking I was at the forefront and who was getting ready to dock, my cousin, Alfred, Angelina's youngest child.

The after hours were fun.Naturally, Charlie kept after me and I finally told him that I would go back to school.

That September, I did return, I was directed to a teacher who was interviewing dropouts like me. Evidently, they were ready for anyone who returned. He went through a list of report cards and he said "your marks are good. Wait here while I go talk with the supervisor and see if he will let you go into the third year class instead of the second".

He came back after awhile and said the supervisor said no. If you are serious, you will do your second-year class over. I said I would and I wound up with more study periods as I was given credit for some of the courses.