Rushs First Day at High School ANNOUNCER: Its a few minutes past twelve oclock as our scene opens now, and here in the kitchen of the small house halfway up in the next block we find the noon-day meal in progress, with all members of the family present. Yesterday, youll remember, young Rush Gook embarked on his high school career. He found that opening day consisted only of one short session during which the students straightened out kinks in their schedules, met their teachers, and were told what text-books to purchase. Today, however, school began in earnest... and no one is more earnest about it than young Rush himself. Hes giving his parents a few high-lights this very moment. Listen to him. RUSH: By gosh theres as much difference between high school an grade school as there is between day an night. In grade school when ya move into a new room, they assign you a seat an ya sit there day after day an week after week an month after month until the end of the semester. Ya sit there minute after minute an hour after hour too except for recess. In high school, by George, ya have seven different rooms an seven different seats. An in every room theres a different bunch of kids. SADE: You have seven different teachers too, dont ya? RUSH: Yeah. Seven different teachers. Feature that? An the Study Hall teachers change around a lot so it makes more than seven over the course of a week. I never realized... VIC: Will ya pass the beans please? RUSH: Huh? VIC: Will ya pass the beans please? RUSH: Oh - thought you asked a question about school. VIC: No, I just asked a question about the beans. SADE: Hand me your plate. Ill give you some... RUSH: I never realized what a change high schoold be from Edwards. Course I knew everythingd be different but I never paused to reflect how... Whatcha say, gov? VIC: Nothin. RUSH: You waved. VIC: I was wavin at your mother. Indicatin that she had put sufficient beans on my plate. I didnt wanta cut in on your flow of remarks. RUSH: Oh. Well, I started to say I knew everything in high schoold be different but I didnt pause to reflect how much different. In Edwards wed kinda slide down in our desk at nine oclock, sing a song or two, go to the blackboard an work arithmetic problems, listen to the other class recite, go out to recess, come back in again, have geography... just sorta do things lazy an comfortable, ya know. But in high school ya dash into whatever classroom youre due at, chew the rag a minute, the bell rings, ya shut up, ya recite an listen to the teacher for forty minutes or so, the bell rings again, ya bounce outa there like a fire engine, an go whippin down the corridor to wherever your next classroom is. Oh, its the life. SADE: Like it, huh? RUSH: [Who does] I sure do. Mom, you just oughta come around those halls some day between classes. You never saw so many people sloshin back an forth in your life. Teachers an students an janitors an librarians an office girls an I dont know who all. Looks like thousands of em. An in three minutes - as quick as the bell rings - theres not a soul in sight. The whole place is as empty as if itd been cleaned out by magic. SADE: [Mildly] My. My. RUSH: [Somewhat breathless] Oh, I wanta tell ya. VIC: Spear me a slab of bread, will ya, Sade? SADE: Oh, Vic, say please pass the bread. You said Spear me the bread the other night at Ruthies in front of that cousin from Colfax an I could of sunk through the floor! VIC: That cousin from Colfax looked like a hay-seed to me. I sized him up as a... RUSH: [Off again] An hey, I got gymnasium class fourth hour an the guys... Oh, excuse me for buttin in, Gov. VIC: Perfectly O.K. RUSH: I got all this stuff on my mind, see, an I cant hardly wait to let you an Mom in on it. VIC: Uh-huh. Kick the bread up the trolley before ya start in. SADE: Vic, please dont. You get in the habit of sayin things like that an then they bust out in front of company. VIC: Will nobody bounce the bread off the bank-board? RUSH: Here yare, Gov. Mom, I started to tell ya about my fourth hour gym class. Im in Physical Geography third hour under Miss Shade, an ya know what the guys do that have got fourth hour gym? SADE: What do they do? RUSH: They get half undressed durin third hour so they can scoot down as soon as the bell rings an be in their gym suits ahead of everybody else. I noticed a kid this morning. Hes a sophomore that graduated from Emerson school last year. By gosh, he took off his socks, put em in his pocket, put his shoes back on an left em untied; put his necktie in his pocket, an unbuttoned his shirt. Then he got clear on the edge of his seat so when the bell rang he could get a flyin start. When it did ring, youd of thought a fire-crackerd gone off under him. SADE: Do the teachers put up with such didoes in high school? RUSH: Teacher couldnt see him. In the first place he sits in a back seat an in the second place he ducked behind the guy in front of him. SADE: Dont sound to me like a very smart thing for big boys to be doin. RUSH: Oh, its a case of dog eat dog in high school, Mom. Its really the life. SADE: How about your subjects? Dont they get any attention? RUSH: Plenty of it. Plenty of it. By the way I havent told you my complete schedule yet, have I? SADE: You said you were takin Algebra an Latin an English an... RUSH: Let me describe the whole works to ya. SADE: All right. RUSH: Well, when I get to school a little before nine in the morning, I go to my locker, hang up my hat, an grab whatever books I want. Then I loaf around the halls till the first bell rings an chat with friends. When I hear the bell I go to my algebra class, which is room 209 on the second floor, teacher Miss Lorah Monroe. Algebra is my first-hour class. When the bell rings for second-hour classes, I have three minutes to get to Study Hall, which is room 215. We got three Study Halls altogether - rooms 215, 115 an 205. Third hour I have Physical Geography under Miss Shade. Fourth hour I have gym. On Fridays we have Assembly between third an fourth hours. Thats when everybody in school gets together in the auditorium. Assembly between third an fourth hours is mighty convenient for me because I can take a short cut down to the gymnasium. Thats all of the morning. In the afternoon theres fifth hour, sixth hour, seventh hour, an eighth hour. Eighth hour is for the kids that hafta stay after school. Fifth hour I have Study Hall 205; sixth hour I have English under Miss Tyson; an seventh hour I have Latin under Miss Kinney. Theres my day in a nutshell. VIC: Seems to make quite a day. RUSH: Oh, its the life, boy. I sure feel sorry for Harry Chatam an Wally Wilson an them guys that quit school to take jobs. They can have their ol salary. SADE: Maybe youd like to go to high school the rest of your life. RUSH: Id just as soon. VIC: All thisll be stale in a week or two, Hank. RUSH: Stale nothin. No, sir. VIC: Could you spare a fella another dab of beans, Sade? SADE: We got all these to finish up. VIC: Spit me over a throat-load, will ya? SADE: Vic, I wish you wouldnt. Spose you were havin dinner with Mis Brighton an come out with somethin like that. VIC: Id expect Mis Brighton to... RUSH: Mom, let me tell you somethin funny that... Oh, I beg your pardon, Gov; Im always buttin in. VIC: Think nothin of it. Tell us somethin funny. RUSH: Its about a kid in my Physical Geography class. Thats what I got under Miss Shade third hour, ya know. VIC & SADE: Uh-huh. RUSH: Well, Miss Shade is one of the very few teachers that make a lesson assignment before kids get their text-books. She does that because we got so much to cover durin the semester. Anyway, she made a lesson assignment yesterday an we were sposed to have it studied for today. So she asked this kid - his name is Gerald Snow - a question about the first paragraph. He said he didnt know the answer. She said didnt you read it. He said sure, he read it three times. When did you read it three times, says Miss Shade. This semester, last semester, an the semester before that, he says. [Laughs] VIC & SADE: [Laugh without conviction] RUSH: Dontcha get the joke? SADE: He... didnt know his lesson? RUSH: No. Heres the joke: the kid had read the lesson three times because he took the course three times. Hed flunked it twice, get the angle? SADE: [Still not quite clear on the matter] Oh. RUSH: I read it this semester, last semester, an the semester before that. [Re-enjoys the joke] SADE: [Laughs as much as she can] VIC: A splotch of butter for my bread perhaps, Mis Jackson? SADE: Its right there by ya. Behind the big dish. RUSH: Mom, who ya thinks in my Latin class? SADE: Who? RUSH: Mildred Tisdel. SADE: Aint she in all your classes? RUSH: No, thats the only one. Latin. SADE: Youre... youre both freshmen, aint ya? RUSH: Sure, but theres hundreds of freshmen. They got four beginning algebra classes alone. In my algebra class theres not one single kid from Edwards school. SADE: Well. RUSH: Chances are I wont even see much of Mildred. Around school, that is. Shes takin different subjects than I am an her classes are in different parts of the building. I never saw her at all this morning. SADE: Thought you walked to school with her. RUSH: I did. An home too. SADE: Whatcha know about that. RUSH: Oh, its an awful big place, that school. You just oughta see em pile in the Auditorium for Assembly. SADE: Id like to sometime. RUSH: Well arrange it for some Friday. VIC: How about your ol side-kicks Heinie an Rooster? Are you in any classes with them? RUSH: Im in every class with Rooster. SADE: Oh, that makes it nice. RUSH: We got it fixed up with Superintendent Chinbunny. Rooster an me wanted to be together, but the English class I was in was all full an it looked like Roosterd hafta take it second hour under Miss Tate. That would of thrown his whole schedule off, ya see? SADE: Uh-huh. RUSH: But I went to Mr. Chinbunny about it. At first he said he didnt favor the idea of close friends bein in the same classes because they were apt to distract each other. But I talked him around. SADE: Maybe hes right about close friends distractin each other. RUSH: Oh, no. Rooster Davis an me are just like that. SADE: Might be just whatd cause the trouble. RUSH: Well make out. Ya know Rooster made a great sacrifice in order to be with me in every class? SADE: Whatd he do? RUSH: Agreed to take Latin. Agnes, his big sister, ya know, took Latin when she was in high school an she usta come home nights an bawl her head off. So Roosters always been scared of it. SADE: An hes takin it? RUSH: In order to be with me. Aint that a friend for ya? SADE: Yes, I guess it is. RUSH: To be right down frank with ya, I dont believe Latins half as tough as its cracked up to be. All ya gotta do is learn Latin words for English words. An theres only about ten a day to learn. I know some already. Puella means girl. Puer means boy. Agricola means farmer. Patria means native country. Hic means this looks like a pipe to me. SADE: I guess its stringin the words together thats hard. RUSH: Dont see why it should be. If I feel like sayin Here is my shoe in Latin, all I gotta know is the Latin words for Here is my shoe. SADE: Well, I dont know the first thing about it. RUSH: Ill give you the interesting angles as they come along, Mom. SADE: All right. RUSH: Yes, sir, boy, this high school dope sure is the life. SADE: Its nice you like it so well. RUSH: Cant help but like it. VIC: You say you were in some classes with your pal Heinie? RUSH: Heinies in my gym class, my Physical Geography class, an my fifth-hour Study Hall. So us three friends will be together part of the day at least. An we oughta have some fun too. In the boys room between second an third hour we decided to... Mom, is your kitchen clock right? SADE: I guess it is. RUSH: Twelve twenty-five? SADE: Uh-huh. RUSH: Say, do you mind if I beat it? SADE: Not time for school yet. RUSH: No, but I got lotsa business to take care of. May I leave the table? SADE: I spose so... if you must. RUSH: Oh, I got plenty of business. Hafta switch lockers with a guy, reserve a book outa the library, notify the office about the changes in my schedule, put in an application for Assembly monitor, an get my name on the Voluntary Usher list. SADE: You wont be doin this every noon? RUSH: Oh, no. Maybe just a day or two till I get organized. [Moves off] SADE: Whenll ya be home safternoon? RUSH: [Off] Probly not till a quarter to five. SADE: Ill want groceries an things, ya know. RUSH: O.K. Ill show up early as I can. [Opens screen door] So long, Mom. SADE: So long. RUSH: So long, Gov. VIC: So long, Sport. RUSH: See everybody later. [Screen door slams] VIC: [To Sade] There goes a man that attends high school. SADE: He attends high school just like youd shoot off a ton of dynamite. VIC: I never seen a guy so full of a thing. SADE: Did you notice how much dinner he ate? VIC: No. Couldnt of ate much an done all that talkin. SADE: He didnt eat any dinner. VIC: Not any? SADE: Not a mouth-ful. VIC: Not a bean? SADE: Not one single bean. VIC: Some guy. SADE: An the funniest thing is. VIC: What? SADE: He didnt even know he didnt eat any dinner. ANNOUNCER: Which concludes a brief interlude at the small house half-way up in the next block. 1935
Posted on: Sat, 10 May 2014 15:46:07 +0000
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