Nancy Classics by Ernie Bushmiller for June 18, 2019

So what if he is killing time? In my pre-Internet days, I killed so much time in the library they knew me by name. The librarian should be pleased that young man is expanding his mind instead of running the streets.

On the other hand, Ju Jitsu doesn’t work that way.

My library where I live is SO different! (I assume most are not like this these days). There are computers you can use, there is a children’s area with books, quiet games, puzzles. There is a giant jigsaw puzzle in the middle of the library for ANY patron (geared for adults) to sit quietly and work on. There are small reading nooks to do what Sluggo is doing. Our library is sponsoring a reading program this summer with a prize of a tablet! It’s sort of like Bingo. You have to compete tasks on your Bingo card for a ticket that gives you a chance to win. Tasks involve mostly on-line things to explore and do. The idea is that they want people to become aware of all the on-line programs and information they offer. Libraries have come a long way. I go there pretty much every other day. And yes, they know my name.

I am very well known in the library here, and in all the years I’ve been going there I’ve never seen anyone behave like that to a person who is quietly reading.

I guess the ever-present toothbrush mustache sporting “leaning man” got his comeuppance… :-P

Is it me or is the librarian mean?

Sluggo is lethal!

Loafing in the library? Gasp! Throw him out! You don’t want kids who read hanging around!

1- GROUCH: Hey kid! Have you seen my pencil? 2- SLUGGO: It was behind your ear… 3- …did you put it up your butt to keep that stick company? GROUCH: Why I oughta… 4- SLUGGO: Dance? Why not? Here’s a nifty little step I learned at the sock hop! GROUCH: You kids and your swing music will be the ruination of this country!!!

nice

For some reason, this one reminded me of something distantly related when I was Sluggo’s age. I took my carefully saved paper route money, and rode my bike into the center of town to buy some sports equipment. I could not make up my mind: a glove or a bat? I could not buy both, unless I settled for a cheaper glove, but didn’t want that; I needed all the help I could get. The Louisville Slugger felt good. What to do, what to do? I took out the seven bucks: “A cheap glove and the bat, or a good glove?”

I had almost made up my mind when the owner of the store looks from the counter and says, “Kid, buy something or get out of my store!” I guess he thought I was planning a robbery or something.

I ended up riding 60 miles with my Dad the next day and making the purchase in a bigger city, a “big box” type of store.

Today, that old sports building in my town is a yoga parlor or something. They like to blame the internet for the decline of brick and mortar stores, but for me, it was the jerk who ran the only sporting goods store in town. My week’s salary was not good enough for him. If there had been an internet back then, that’s where my money would have gone.

Oh, I got a great Franklin brand glove, and to boot, a Jackie Robinson model Louisville Slugger, 34 ounces, that one of my sons now owns.

Does Sluggo know the Dewey Decimal System????

That is closer to judo.

Wish they cared like that today. Today idiots just sit around and talk loudly.