High School of Commerce - Caravel Yearbook (New York, NY)

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.gif-af may af ,MAMA The advertisement read: High School graduate for position of shipping clerk, 5540 a week, manufac- turing company, men's garments. Joe had never held a part-time job. In fact, only a bad break in his fatherls business affairs made him think about working, although this was not a must, It was no wonder, then, that he felt rather apprehen- sive, as he faced the heavy-set man who was inter- viewing him. The questions flowed: Why didn't he go to col- lege?',, Was he healthy? , Had he ever worked befote?',g Then, examining the report cards joe had brought along, the two-hundred pounder drawledz What is so difficult about geometry that you failed it? g How is it that those English grades are so low? , etc. Finally, he was hired and told to report the fol- lowing morning at nine o'clock. And you know, said his future boss in a semi-confidential tone, just before joe's departure, you will have to be able to do quite a bit of calculating here. This made Joe feel worse than ever. Joe was quite impressionable, and he did not fail to dream that night. He saw himself sweating over long columns of numbers, with the fat man peeping over his shoulder and frowning. The next morning, he dressed in his best, wearing his newest suit, a pinned tie, and a white shirt. With his hair neatly combed, he went out, feeling like a hero. He was being introduced. Here is our new ship- ping clerk, Joe Samson. This is Sam, our foreman. Glad to meet you, Joe. Hmm, was Joe's invariable answer. At first, they made him lay down material on the long table in the middle of the factory. He had to spread it very evenly, so that the cutter working with him could clip it in a straight line. As Joe was a talkative fellow, it wasnit long before he had an urge to communicate with the cutter, whose face had a pleasant expression and who managed to smile from time to time, although not because he was overjoyed about joe's work. Do you think I'll be able to cope with the cal- culating? asked joe. 'lWhy, surelu grinned the other. joe had to attach labels to fresh batches of cut cloth, alphabetize patterns, fold undershirts, pack boxes into cartons and finally, to finish the day, sweep up twenty pounds of shreds and other remains, and stuff them into sacks full of holes. He picked up many things that day. For instance, here are a few words which were especially instruc- tive to him. How many bales of blue do you have there? sang out the secretary. Six? OK., and with my five bales of white, at four yards each bale, it makes . . . it makes . . . forty-four yards. -Put down forty-four on the receipt, Joef, Joe also learned how to put thirteen boxes into cartons holding four boxes each, and why the secre- tary and the foreman were not on speaking terms. After he had finished sweeping, he rested for a while, pondering his job. He felt both satisfaction and uneasiness-satisfaction, because of the way he had mastered his work, uneasiness, because this work was so simple, requiring some manual skill and ex- perience, to be sure, but making such a modest de- mand upon his mind. However, all through high school, it had been dinned into him that most of what he was taught there would be of some use later. Now why did I study physics and poetry, if all they use of me are my hands and body?,' he asked himself. He did not realize that knowledge is valuable for its own sake, besides being a help in earning a living. Slowly, his uneasiness completely overcame the sat- isfaction inside him. Although he realized that any other job now open to him would not be much better, he felt disgusted. The girls who operated the sewing machines were crowding noisily near the door of the service elevator, waiting impatiently to go home. The cutter, who had proved to be rather a friendly fellow, saw Joe stand- ing alone and in thought. Well, joe, how do you like it here? he asked. Oh, it's all -right, said Joe with a reserved grin. The next day he telephoned, and said he was sick. It took him some time to reach a decision about his future, but finally he did. He would manage to get along on less money,' and try to go to college before taking any job. TED HOPENSZADT

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gracluafion Now, after years filled with memories Both cherished, and forgotten, We are achieving a goal long sought . . . Graduation. Now, after many terms of anticipation, We are living every minute, every SCCOHCL Every long-to-be-remembered moment of this, Ollf Graduation. To some, graduation is the culmination of a bloody battle covering acres of pale, lined test papers, And fought with pens h Spouting seas of vari-colored inks. To others it is the logical result Of many hours of deserving labor. u U There is a fortunate group to whom gfaduatlon 15 merely A break in routine, p To be followed by years of similar routine Within cloistered, ivied halls. l Each and every separate individual reads his OWI1 deep and personal meaning into this, his own Graduation. Whatever our meanings, . . Whether they are escape, CU11T11f19-U00, Or, perhaps, a new beginning, l Regardless of our own small personal views, This remains our Graduation. This is our last, Our irrevocable step From careless youth to solemn adulthood. Stop! Look back! Then pause, reflect, And wonder what the unforeseeable future holds. Then, pause no more. Go forward only, away and beyond, But carry with you always The memory of that last, irrevocable step . . . G' 'd tion. ' ra ua Carl A. Gottlieb f7Ae CAM 0 1955 The Yearbook will bring back pleasant Cbut dis- tortedl memories when looked over in the future. However, we must remember that our high school years are but one link in the chain of life, although each link is important. We are graduating from Commerce High School. It has taken us some seventeen or eighteen years to get this far. We are products in which great invest- ments have been made, both tangible and intangible. We must also think of ourselves as the products of civilization. As Sinclair Lewis wrote, so that we might stand here Hannibal invaded Rome and Erasmus wrote in Oxford cloistersf' This does not mean they did it for our sake, but it shows how the past makes the present, and the present makes the future. Much of what we like and dislike on earth we owe to past generations. Much of what future generations like and dislike they will owe to the present. That is why every graduation is a call to arms. We want a better world for ourselves and our chil- dren. Nobody can achieve this but us and people like us. The two great problems of our age are how to achieve peace and prosperity. Can we solve these problems? By ourselves, probably not, but we should not fail to contribute something which will make the world a better place to live in, just as others be- fore us have done. This is the challenge the Class of 1955 must meet. Robert Halasz

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