Biddeford High School - Olympian Yearbook (Biddeford, ME)

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THE OLYMPIAN 31 Isn't it strange what innumerable places a Freshman can get into to es- cape being caught by the juniors at the Freshmen Reception? I think it isn't. Many people think it is. Setrak Derderian, '39. JOHN SMITH, BUSINESS MAN John, dear, started Mrs. Smith one morning after breakfast. I want you to do an errand for me while you're at the city today. See if you can't find cloth material to match either one of these two samples, and so saying, she gave her husband two small pieces of cloth of different colors and designs. Very well, my dear, said John Smith, business manager of the largest corporation in the state, I'll do that during my lunch hour. It should be easy enough. Oh, no, it won't be so easy, replied Mrs. Smith with a hint of warning, be- cause I don't want you to give up too easily even if you Hnd one and cannot find the other. I want you to make sure that you can't possibly get it anywhere. I already have three yards of each kind but I want to see if I could possibly find any more of one kind at the city before I start making myself a new dress out of it. Don't worry, my dear: I won't come back without finding both! , Upon hearing this his wife let him take leave for his office, confident that he would do an errand right-for once. John Smith, with confidence in him- self and his ability, and peace of mind besides, rode on his morning train to the city with the all-important samples in his pocket. During that morning everything turned out unusually well. Even at lunch time he did not have to wait a long time for lunch. But after his lunch Mr. Smith had some difficult work to do! Pooh-pooh, thought Mr. Smith. I'Ie'd do the errand for his darling wife in a jiffy, go back to the office, finish his work for the day, and then to the club for a round of golf. Having finished his lunch, Mr. Smith went to a store in which they sold goods by the yard and, after inquiring, found that they had some cloth that matched with one of the samples but not an inch that would match with the other sam- ple. Very well, thought Mr. Smith, he was half successful, anyway. He would go somewhere else for the other. Give me some of the kind that you do have, he said to the clerk. And how much of it do you want? asked the clerk. Great Scott! exclaimed Mr. Smith to himself, but more audible than neces- sary. I-lis wife had not told him how much to get and he had never thought of asking! Now he was in a jam and he would have to think fast! His wife had three yards, but how many yards are needed for a dress? Six more, maybe? I-Ie might ask the clerk. No, on second thought, he had embarrassed himself enough already. I-er-had better return later, he said nervously, but still trymg to say it in a business-like tone. l'll-er-find out how much, then I'l1 come back. Mr. Smith left the scene of his first failure apparently a little ashamed of himself, not because he knew that the clerk may have laughed at him, but rather because he had let himself be stumped by the seemingly little and un- important matter of how much. Perhaps he should let his wife do her own shopping, he thought for a mo- ment, but then no, he would not go go home entirely defeated. I-Ie would at least be able to tell her where to find her goods. I-Ie'd find out, that's what he'd do! With this satisfying thought in mind, he set out to Hnd out where the other kind of cloth could be bought. How- ever, he did not meet with such luck, not even finding a store that had that

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30 THE. OLYMPIIAN ANKLE SOCKS Thousands Do It Every Day Ankle socks seem to be quite the fashion. Miss Modern, a very sophisti- cated young lady who thinks no one knows any better than she how to dress, is often seen in silks and satins yet she is wearing ankle socks. Again we see her dressed in shorts and ankle socks, looking as if she were all ready for a game of tennis or a bicycle ride, but she is wearing high- heeled shoes. No one is allowed to tell her her mistake for she would take it only as an insult. Very often as Miss Modern dresses for church on a hot Sunday in Summer she is heard to say: It's too hot to wear stockings today, I think I'll wear my socks, and when she appears at church she is wearing the socks which are so ill-suited to the rest of her clothes, and to the place where she is going. Miss Modern very often appears out shopping, or at the movies wearing ankle socks. In the Winter when she is going to school, she dons her heavy woolen socks over her stockings, again marring her appearances, if she knew it, or stopped to think about it. In the Spring when the days first seem a little warmer, Miss Modern im- mediately discards the stockings and wears only the socks. Sometimes her legs may be blue with cold, but that is no matter if she can keep pace with the the style. Certainly if she stopped to think how she appears to those who really know what to wear, and when to wear it, she might reconsider and put on the detested stockings when the occasion demands it. G. Davis, '38. MY CUNNING BRAIN There comes in the life of every per- son a time wlfen he or she is in a most diflicult situation and no means of es- cape are present. That was my situa- tion on the moon-lit night of September l4. I had just a few minutes before escaped from the clutches of a band of four husky brutes, and found refuge in the interior of the high school build- ing. As I had on my new clothes, I wished no other encounter with such fellows described above. Sneaking along very carefully in the dark corridors, I was suddenly sur- prised by two roving boys. They were after me in a Hash, but I was like chain-lightning compared to them. I fled into a room which was nearest to me. Suddenly it seemed that the whole building was in a tumult. They thought they had me cornered, BUT NO. I was too crafty for them. They wouldn't get me. Not tonight anyway. As I ran into another lu-DIT11, I felt the presence of eyes boring through me. Could it be possible that I was trapped? Yes, it was possible. They were after me. I ran, I jumped, I pushed my way to the stairs, slid down the bannisters and ran down the first floor corridor: but, alas, I wasn't fast enough. They had me surrounded. My only hope of escape was through a door which was open. In that room was also an open window. I-Ia .... ha .... ha l Escape. What stupid fools these would-be kid- nappers were. I was too clever for them. I climbed on the window sill and hung down and then fell for a drop of about five feet. Escape at last. But no. I was quickly surrounded by a grim-faced group of young men bent on malicious intents. They had me. I am lost, I said to myself. Je suis perdu, as the French would put it. As I looked into the grim faces above me, fear, a hitherto un- known thing, crept into me. I groaned and it must have sounded funny, be- cause my aggressors laughed: I also laughed and the situation was no longer imminent. fclever, eh?l

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32 THE OLYMPIAN material. Try as hard as he would, he could not get even an imitation of that second sample. Still determined, however, he tele- phoned his affice to cancel all of his business appointments for that after- noon. l-le then looked, searched, asked, pleaded, and even begged for a similar- ity to the small but troublesome sample. He called on buyers, Weavers, and manufacturers, but all in vain. Give up? Neverg not he. Already weighed down with fatigue, his head getting dizzier and dizzier, his voice fainter and fainter, he had to make frequent stops, even on crowded sidewalks, in order to regather his thoughts. Then, by mistake, he went into a store into which he had already gone once before earlier in the after- noon. Once more he presented the sample and unconsciously repeated his ques- tion,- Have you any like this? But this time the clerk did not ans- wer, l'm sorry-. Instead he said, 'il believe you are the same gentleman that was here early this afternoon, but l can see that this is not exactly the same cloth you asked for. l don't think we have any of this either. What's that? exclaimed Mr. Smith with revived vigor, Not the same? taking the sample from the clerk's hand. But again his hopes were shattered. If it had not been the same sample, he could have used that as an excuse to his wife. It was the same sample that he had started out with, but it was now soiled beyond recognition, almost, and its fabric edges were pulling apart. Well, he'd use that as an excuse. He would say he had not only worn him- self out but the sample also! It was then that John Smith, business manager of the largest concern in the state, returned to his wife, having failed to close the easiest deal of his life. That is, he thought he had failed: but, as he was explaining to his wife that he had found one kind of cloth but not the other, his wife interrupted him and said, That's fine. l knew you'd find one kind and that you wouldn't find the other. l clidn't want you to find one of the two. What? You wanted me to get something you didn't want! Now, john, calm yourself and l'll explain, she said soothingly. l didn't ask you to buy the cloth because l al- ready had enough cloth to make a dress with each kind of cloth. You see, dear, mother sent me the two materials and she had said, before she sent them, that one kind could not be bought in this part of the state, and l wanted to make a dress out of it because when l would wear the dress other women would think it was an exclusive dress. But you see, dear, l forgot which one it was that was not sold locally. So l sent you to see which one you could NOT find. l didn't ask you to buy any for l had enough already and I knew from what mother told me that it could not be bought. I just asked you to find out which one of the two could NOT be bought, and I must say you did a very good job of it, because you didn't buy anything as l didn't tell you to, and at the same time you made certain that there was none to be found in the stores, which was just what l wante-d you to do. While Mrs. Smith went on to say what a fine dress it would be, john Smith,-hard business man of the larg- est business concern of that state,- fainted. Gerard Boutin, '39. ALL NATURE IS BUT ART UNKNOWN T0 THEE For a city dweller to spend a week- end in the country is intolerable. So thought l, en route to my sister's little country home. But even my critical eye must notice the cool, green freshness of