A Typical Day At Marietta High School

 

A Typical Day at Marietta High School.

One of my mother’s sister is Opal.  Opal worked in Atlanta at a printing company.  I think she worked near a novelty shop because she brought novelties to me several times:  She brought me fake cigarettes, fake bugs in fake ice cubes, and other novelty stuff.  I think she topped herself when she bought me a Whoopee Cushion, or Poo Poo Cushion.  You blow it up, but it somewhere that someone will likely sit on it, and when they do it blows out noise like a big flatulence; a big fart.

I carried it to school.  At Phys Ed instead of dressing out we sat up high in the blenchers and played with the  Whoopee Cushion.  Larry Bradford could play tunes on it.

After the phys ed class we were standing in front of the Brumby Gym waiting for the bell to ring.  Coach Lundy walked up to us and politely and not fooling around asked me for that rubber thing we were playing with.

I handed it over.

In my next class, I heard Vice Principal Lloyd Cox on the PA system request Eddie Hunter, Larry Bradford, and Paul Roper* report to his office.

*it might not have been Paul Roper, it could be someone else, I’m confused.

We reported to his office in the Winn Street Building.  He had us line up and look at him.  He was frowning.

Suddenly he whipped the inflated cushion out behind his back and squeezed it. 

It let outa huge running fart sound with high and low sounds.

We cracked up laughing.

Lloyd Cox ‘smouth rounded looking puzzled?  The opened round mouth might have exposed some sharp teeth… or it seemed that way anyway.

He gave us a lecture on cheap nasty sounds and told us to stay there the rest of the period, then it would be time to go home.

We did not stay in his office grieving over our nasty minds and sounds.   Mrs. Hogan was next door.  She was the truant officer that year and we got to know her well.  She was head of the lunchroom and had a catering service.  We was the help; the go-fors for her catering service.  She taught us how to set a table for banquets.

When the bell rung it was time to go home.  To top things off we opened Lloyd Cox’s  desk, dug around and found it.  We blew it up again and put in his chair.

I thought we would hear our names on the PA system to report to the office but there was no announcement like that.  We never heard another word about it.

I often wondered why we 3 were not called on the carpet for another “BLAST!” and I think by going over our steps that day as I type this our Guardian Angel may have been Mrs. Hogan.  She was in the next room hearing every word we said and I think she liked us, she deflated the poo poo cushion and put it back in Lloyd’s desk….maybe.