Learning New Things About Someone

I am not very good at asking questions.  Maybe that is something I learned growing up as the usual answer I got was "no" when I asked to go somewhere or do something.  Barney had asked me to study together on a Sunday afternoon and it had never dawned on me to ask where was the studying going to take place.  Of course I had said great but were we going to a library or the lake as it made a difference in what I was going to take to study. I also had not ever asked if he lived in a dorm, a house or an apartment.

He arrived at 1:00 to find me sitting outside the dorm armed with a variety of assignments I had to get done by Tuesday.  When we got in his car he said that I had already broken two of the three cardinal rules of Stephens by drinking and being out of the county at night, how did I feel about breaking the third rule?  What the heck, I might as well go for three out of three.   There was some apprehension in going off to his living quarters, as Stephens called them, since I had only known him for a week and a half.  

As we drove across town he told me he had lived in the dorm his first year at Mizzou and didn't like it very much. He looked for an apartment but found that they were expensive and noisy with all the other college students.  So he bought a house trailer from a graduating student.  That way he had his own place to live and study plus selling it when he graduated would pay for his living expenses.   Maybe only 4.0 Eagle Scout students think of things like that.

I have to admit that was the first house trailer I had ever been in and it was pretty neat.  As he showed me around I noticed lots of books, no television, no pictures of past girl friends and yes, I did look in the refrigerator to see that he did not cook much.  There was also no dust on the baseboards so he got an A for housekeeping. I think he got a big kick out of it when I only peeked at the bedroom for a second and then dashed back to the living area.  While laughing he acted liked he had just suddenly remembered that he had invited me over to study.  Then it was down to the business of studying.

He had a paper to type and I had some set drawings to do for the television class or a book to read for Masterpieces of World Literature. I chose not to read the book since it was Wuthering Heights and I knew I would be a crying mess reading it.  So I got the kitchen table for the big drawings and he put his typewriter on the coffee table.  The paper he was typing was on Economics and all he had to work from was a one page neatly typed outline, the kind every English teacher tries to teach students to do.  I must say I was quite impressed with the speed of the typewriter keys. Scratch the thought of ever getting into a typing contest with him.

I guess we worked about a couple of hours with a little conversation every once in awhile when all of a sudden while the typing was going on I heard him singing "Oklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plain and the waving wheat can sure smell sweet when the wind comes right behind the rain."  I literally cracked up.  He smiled and went right on typing.  It took me awhile to come back at him when I suddenly remembered that he was from Kansas City.  That was easy so I sang "Goinin' to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come.  They got some pretty little  girls there and you'd better not get one."  That got him and he even had to stop typing because of laughter.  He told me that was not actually the words and I told him my words were better than the original ones.

In a couple of more hours he had a twenty page essay done complete with footnotes and no typing errors  and I had two set drawings done for a show similar to the Today show.  His friends, Mike and Christine, that had gone to Jefferson City with us came by and asked if we wanted to meet them for dinner in town.  Even though Mike kept referring to me as Cinderella I thought it would be fun especially since I was starving.

After dinner Barney, even though it was getting to be time for me to check in the dorm, he drove out by the football field and parked.  Barney laughed and said he didn't like to tell lies and by parking at the stadium some of his story to keep me out of trouble was now true.  Then he went on to say that he had seen me around Columbia several times during the year and I was always laughing and looked like I was having fun.  That was why he decided to ask me out and that I was the first thing he thought about every morning and the last thing at night.  
I was speechless as he gave me a quick kiss, started the car and told me he had to get me home before I turned into a pumpkin.  As I snuggled up against him I told him that I would not turn into a pumpkin his car would. Not only did he need to study up on fairy tales he need to drive better while laughing.

It was only two days until we were out of school for Spring Break and both days were incredibly busy for me with classes and sorority stuff.  
Barney had class on Monday night so we managed to meet for lunch each day.  It seemed like everyone was flying out on Wednesday to some place fun, Pam to New York City to visit with some of her Dad's family and Sally would be off to spend the week on the beach in Panama City, Florida.  Several girls were going to Hawaii with a girl from there.  Guess my parents had watched enough Beach Party movies to rationalize that I just needed to come home for the week.

                           No chance I could be like Gidget this year

My parents decided that it was too expensive for me to fly home and then have to be picked up in Tulsa so I got to make the 350 mile trip via Continental Trailways.  Barney took me to the bus station along with my suitcase packed with books thus time instead of too many clothes. He promised to call and pick me up the following week. He did not seem any happier to see me leave than I was in going.  The nine hour bus ride stopped being interesting by the time we got to Joplin.  I know the bus stopped at every town with a population of more than fifty people.  The parents were not too pleased that the bus arrived at 11:30 PM which was way past their bedtime.  I think the man who was drinking something out of a paper bag by the door of the bus station may have given her second thoughts about further bus ride trips for me.


Maybe Spring Break starting off a little bad would make the rest of the week better. One can hope.

Funny How We Learn Some Lessons

                                                              Stephens in the Snow

The interesting thing about Stephens College was that they really encouraged all students to investigate areas of interest in the first two years.  They did not bog students down with all those required classes that everyone hates.  The only ones they required were Physical Education, an English course and one called Ideas in Living Today. They encouraged venturing out and trying new things.

Sounded good to me so when the first snow fell sometime around Thanksgiving I jumped at the chance to go rabbit hunting with a boy I had been going out with. First of all, I love snow.  Growing up in Muskogee, Oklahoma we rarely ever had any but Columbia had lots of it.  The thought of tramping through the snow in the woods close to town was rather exciting. Pam said recently in an email that she remembered the snow in Columbia but I got the idea that living in LA she hasn't seen any since.

                                    The Sidewalk to My Dorm

The next thing to note is that my only experience with a gun was when I was seven years old.  My brother had a BB gun that you had to cock before you fired it.  Well, the first time I tried that I got part of the palm of my hand caught in the stupid thing and had to have seven stitches. At least I didn't shoot my eye out.  My parents never owned a gun except one Christmas my Mother bought my Dad a shotgun thinking he would like to hunt. At age eleven even I knew my Dad was not going to go walking through the woods in his suit, tie and hat for any reason. Don't know what ever happened to the shotgun that never came out of the box.

I cannot remember the boys name so I could not have been too interested in him but I do remember he had a car which was a very big deal.  Off we went to someplace out by Stephens lake.  He should have had somewhat of a clue when I did not know how to hold the rifle. After a few instructions on where the trigger was, how to load and aim the thing we went on search of rabbits. I was very happy just walking through the snow and the thought that I was expected to slay a rabbit never entered my little blonde head.

All of a sudden a rabbit popped up in the snow right in front of us.  That was right after he had scolded me about not talking so much or making so much noise.  Guessed it was like fishing (I had gone fishing a couple of times) so you did not scare the creatures away. Actually I did not see a rabbit.  I saw Thumper and as the boy whispered to me to take aim, Thumper and I made eye contact.  At that point I yelled, "You have got to be kidding!" He took the rifle out of my hand and headed for the car. It was a long, silent trip back to the dorm.  Needless to say I never saw him again.

That one hunting experience taught me that I would never be able to look at an animal without seeing Thumper or Bugs Bunny or Bambi or Bambi's parents.  Fishing became impossible for me when I could not equate their gasping for breath as the compassionate thing to do. I have no problem with other people owning guns and hunting or fishing. But that one beautiful snow covered day taught me something that has stayed with me the rest of my life.

Most of trying of new things worked out better than the hunting episode.  Pam, who lived in the room next door, wanted to go to Temple and explore her Father's religion.  She did not want to go alone so on Friday nights I went with her. I only knew one Jewish boy growing up and he was the one who broke the date to the Prom with me.  Always being curious about different religions I learned a lot about it and gained a lot of respect for the religion and the people.  Pam and I even took Hebrew lessons each week from the Rabbi. It is funny how much Hebrew I actually remember after all these years.

Christmas was the first time we were allowed to go home.  While I looked forward to it there was some apprehension.  All my classes were going well except for one "C" in golf which is a long story.  I knew I had changed a lot in my attitudes about things and wondered how being at home would feel like. It turned out to be very interesting.