Was jest a thank'n bout one of my favorite subjects, Girls. Recollect a time (1959) after arriving in the nations capital that I met this lovely child at the U.S. Employment Agency. We were both actively seeking employment. I must have been seeking sumthin' else 'cause we had a date right after my first payday. Thought I was doing it up brown when I squired her, on the D. C. Transit System (bus), for an entire day of swimming at Glen Echo Park. Would have cost about fifty cents each for the day back then. Subsequent to this elaborate outing we disembarked from the bus at the L Street Dinner (real nice place, looked kind of like an Air Stream trailer.) She ate with me (could have been she was jest hungry) but belittled my taste in dining establishments. I wary stated that that place deserved at least five stars because my dates were normally treated to a Pepsi at the Alderson Snack Shack which I knew to be a four star restaurant. Money always was a problem associated with those darn girls.

Recall a time (circa 1949) when Barry Worrell (a/k/a Fields) and I needed money to sport a couple of lovelies to the Alpine (movie theatre.) Being born entrepreneurs, we stole sugar and a package of grape Kool Aid from Beth, his Mommy, (wonder who we liberated the Dixie cups from) and set-our stand up using a cardboard box on the sidewalk at the entrance stairs to the beauty shop. Thangs were a goin' real well what with us catching the customers both going up to Beth's Beauty Shop and into Smith's Rexall Drug Store. Ole Dr. Smith just couldn't stand this stiff competition. So here he comes jest a stomping up and yelling that we are infringing upon his soda fountain business, we got no operating license, we liable to poison someone and get out of there! We 'loud as how we had as much right to that sidewalk as he did. One could say that he disagreed cause he said we could discuss this matter with Sam Meads (the town cop who even I couldn't out cuss or out fight) or he'd have H.R. Ayres (his employee, one of the big boys - I didn't think I could whip him either) jest kick our little tails if we didn't quickly depart. He must have made believers of us cause we moved on down in front of Mick er Macks grocery store but didn't do anything like as well on this site. Bet it was Carol Shelton ole Barry was hankering to take what wit her having been the girl of his dreams. Can't recall if we got those girls to the movies or not.

A while back Norma Ratliff reminded me about being such a cheap date. Said all I eber did was take her to the Alpine theater (circa 1956) and buy her a pack of good n' plenty. I should have told her that today if I was to send a limo to pick her up in Manassas Park, go to Dulles Airport, board the Concord, fly to Paris France for dinner and back that I would be spending much less on a comparative basis (considering today's annual income and net worth with that of an Alderson High School student) than our dates cost back then. Well, what you thank?

P.S. I gave some of the people mentioned in the Rabbit Hunting Story an opportunity to edit it prior to publication. Afterwards Beaver said to tell everyone that he didn't throw or kick any dogs. It must have been me. He didn't deny the profanity though. My wife wants to edit some too. She said it wasn't azaleas; it was a poinsettias plant in lieu of fresh rabbit.