FoxTrot Classics by Bill Amend for September 10, 2012

Remembering where my locker was in high school was never a problem, recalling the combination for it was slightly tricker, but I figured out a way to remember it, too.

My locker was outside the band room. The lockers were exceedingly cheap; the smart kids brought padlocks from home for them. In fact, one morning the band director had a sub and the jazz band rehearsal stopped early, so we were hanging out in the hallway waiting for the bell. One of the sax players called out to the sub and said, “Hey, Mrs. Bozo, watch this!” Immediately he put an ear to a locker and started fiddling with the dial as if he were cracking the combination. We were falling all over ourselves laughing as he played it to the hilt, slowing down when he was “near” the next number. When he finally backed away from the locker and hauled it open, we were ROTF laughing our tails off. The sub was standing there with her mouth open to her navel; bought the whole show despite our laughing till our eyes popped out.

Not long into my Freshman year, and through the rest of high school, since we kept the same locker year to year, it got to the point where I didn’t really, consciously remember the numbers on the dial, so much as the general twist and turn to open it. If anyone had asked me how to get into it, I probably would never been able to tell them the actual combination.

22R-23L-24R. My combination lock #’s from Marine boot camp 36 years ago. Gave it to my niece 5 years ago and I still recalled the combination.

if you close your eyes and repeat something 10 times you will not forget it

What K M wrote was funny. Probably better than most of today’s strips. I don’tcarewho ya’ are. “Get ’er done.”

I couldn’t do a combination lock at all when I was in middle school. I had to buy a cheap one from the Dollar Store just so I could practice for high school.

Paige, do what Jason does: associate each number with an element (on the periodic table)

I think it’s sweet that Peter even bothered to learn where her locker was.

Burn.