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Page 12 text:
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Since the Vikings, ships and men have paid homage to Neptune Although a crossing the line ceremony is like a flicker in time, waiting for the day to arrive seems to encompass an eternity. Word leaks out early about some of the bizarre initia- tion rites that have been handed down from mariner to mariner. Right from the beginning, you know where you stand. Either you have crossed the equator, or you haven't, and there's no middle ground. Salty old chiefs and senior officers alike, wince at the thought that perhaps they have lost their shellback card , their sole defense against having to undergo the ritual as a lowly pollywog . The shellback population main- tain a smug silence until the day of reckoning arrives. Long before the fateful day arrives, pollywogs are forewarned that they should set aside their worst uniforms for the days' ac- tivities and stubborn sailors seek every means, including bribery, to be ex- empt from the ritual. As the day approaches, various clues intensify the suspense. A menu is distributed offering a normal cuisine for the lucky shellbacks and a variety of suspicious-sounding dishes for his counterpart. Shellback meetings appear in the ships' plan-of-the-day. The ships' daily SPIRIT contains a promise of equatorial atrocities, although it never specifies exactly what they will be. And then, a frightening silence descends, leaving three or four long days for the pollywogs to imagine the rest. On AMERICA, pollywog un- dergrounds sprout up everywhere, from a diplomatic call-to-action from the master-chief-of-the-command, to the inflammatory graffiti scribbled during a visit to the ships' head. The ships' usually routine newscasts are modified to include pollywog happenings and propaganda for those who tune in to hear an encouraging word. . :Q g mf THE ACTUAL EQUATOR: Latitude 0000: Longitude 390 10' West By the eve of the day of reckoning , the crew has worked itself into a state of frenzy. Pollywogs begin a very active campaign for justice before their time draws near. Am- bushes are common, eggings frequent, and mock hangings and kidnappings rampant. A civil war is brewing, a modern-day mutiny threatens. Each and every pollywog is sum- moned to appear before the court, with no exceptions. A summons is to be issued to all those whose very presence has incurred the wrath of His Ma- jesty , Neptunus Rex. Each pollywog labels his t-shirt with the letters PW , and many sailors go to far greater lengths to charm or offend the enemy shellbacks, or perhaps even claim the superiority of their own species. Some highly-colorful shirts are but in most cases, the designed, language is too salty to repeat. As befits the occasion, the ships' Plan-of- the-day separate calls for early revielle, chowlines, hoisting of the Jolly Roger and the frightful words: Commence Shellback initiation. Continue initiation until the fair ship AMERICA is no longer contaminated by having in her a single pollywog. When it is time for each division to receive initiation, word is passed over the ships' intercom. Lines assem- ble in the ships' hangar bay, awaiting further instruction. In the hands of their captors, submission is the order of the day and turning back out of the question. Shellbacks, often dressed like pirates of old, shout for all pollywogs to kneel and board the elevator. It is not uncommon to see a lieutenant commander side by side with a seaman apprentice newly- arrived from Orlando, both nervously awaiting the same fate. When the elevator is loaded, it rises to a chorus of groans and gasps as a herd of pollywogs gets the first glimpse of their shellback captors. Pollywogs, who have been in- structed to carry their summonses in their teeth, must now shuffle through the line of sadistic faces that greet fCon't on page 145 gf.w,'W5g . it: .-if '-Q.--e
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Page 13 text:
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