ENOUGH
BOLOGNA FOR NOW
Dear Classmates and Friends,
I don't know if I've told anyone on the Minden list, but when I was a student at
Louisiana Tech I worked in the Irene Tolliver Dining hall, along with Tommy
Lewis. We checked off the names of students as they came through the line to
eat each day. As a result, I memorized the faces and names of around 800
students each semester. Many of them were from Minden.
Some of the names that come to mind are those of John Lewis, Vern Stonecipher,
Dave Hruska, Charles Nix, Alton Hortman, James Biles (lived next to my
brother-in-law and sister in Vetville), James Morehead, Ray Davis, and Tommy
Searles. I'm sure that other names will come to mind, now that I'm "working on
it." I first knew Turner Almond when we lived in Hale Hall, along with Turner's
roommate, Glen Thomas. Later on, Turner would substitute for some of the guys
in the dining hall when they had to miss work. In fact, Turner knew that I was
interested in photography, had an Argus C-3 camera back then, and loaned it to
me for a few days to take some color slides around campus. Now, that's trust.
Tommy and I were popular with the students. Nearly every day some guy or girl
would ask the name of someone standing in line that they considered to be a
prospective "conquest." Was I stupid! I always told them without compensation,
but I'll bet I could have made a few dollars dispensing names. <grin> Most of
the time I could even tell where the particular student "hailed from."
Working in the dining hall was an "experience." There are many
tales to tell, but this is one from the repertoire. Some of the guys on the
serving line got bored, so rather than putting a fried egg that was being
served, on the plate, someone went into the back and got a couple of raw eggs.
They simply replaced the two fried eggs on the plate, with a couple that looked
like they were boiled. Everyone was "snickering" until one of the largest guys
on the football team, Charlie Garris, came through and said "Oh, boy! Boiled
eggs, I love 'em." The guys pulling the joke were having a "heart attack"
about now. Of all the people that could have taken the plate, a huge football
player decided that he wanted some "boiled" eggs. They could just imagine what
was to come.
Several of the guys ran to the tray return booth and peeped through the small
window to see what Charlie was going to do. Sure enough, he put one of the raw
eggs in his palm, reversed his knife, and gave it a big whack to break the
shell. The egg "exploded" and the yolk just dribbled down onto his plate
through his fingers. The guys scurried back to their serving stations and
waited for the inevitable "arse kicking," or so they thought. <grin> But,
Charlie just brought his plate back with a big grin of his face. He remarked,
much to the guilty servers relief, "That was really funny, now give me a new
plate." Charlie got a new plate posthaste, and everyone began to "breathe" once
again.
Enough bologna for now,
Nolan Bailey
The Tech football player mentioned in my cafeteria tale was
Charlie Garris instead of Garrison...I think he was a defensive end...?
The brain finally kicked in....<grin>
Nolan