THE BULLETIN BOARD
Our campus is not a giant, factory-size job with a particle accelerator and a two-hundred-man football squad, but itтs chummy. The chummiest - thing -about it is the bulletin board in Old Main. You may find a stray glove fastened up with a thumbtack, or you can pick up a baby-sitting job if a married veteran doesnтt beat you tO it. Or you can buy a car cheap if you tow it from where it gave up. There are items like: уWill the person who removed a windbreaker from the Library please return same and receive a punch in the nose?ф
But the main interest is the next four sections, уATo-G,ф уH-To-L,ф уM-To-T,ф and уU-тro-Z,ф for they are what we use in place- of the U.S. Postal уServiceф at enormous saving in postage. Everybody inspects his section before class in the morning. If thereтs nothing for you, at least you can see who dOes get mail and sometimes from whom. Youтll look again at lunch time and before going home. A person with a busy social life will check the board six or seven times.
Mine isnтt that busy but I frequently find a note from Cliff. He knows I like to, so he indulges me. Itтsfun to get mail on the board.
There was a girl I used to run across because we were both in уH-ro-LфўGabrielle Lamont. I would say hello and she would say hello and there it stopped. Gabrielle was a sad oneўnot a total termite, but dampish. Her face had the usual features but she let them live their own lives, not even lipstick. She skinned her hair back and her clothes looked as if they had been bought in France. Not Parisўjust France. Thereтs a difference.
Which they probably were. Her father is in Modern Languages and he sent her three years to school in France. It did something. I donтt think she ever had a date.
We both had eight oтclocks and she would check уH-~ro-Lф every morning when I did and then go quietly away. There was never a note for her.
Until this one morning. . . Georgia Lammers, who is~ purely carnivorous, took a note off the board as Gabrielle came up. I heard this soft little voice say, уExcuse me.
Thatтs mine.ф -~
Georgia said, уHuh? Donтt be silly!ф
Gabrielle looked scared but she put out her hand. уRead the name, please. Youтve made a mistake.ф
Georgia snatched the note away. She is a junior and wouldnтt bother to speak to me if Daddy werenтt on the staffўbut Iтm .not afraid of her. уDo it,ф 1 insisted. уLetтs see the name.ф
Georgia stuck the envelope in my face and snapped, уRead it yourself, snoopy!ф
уGabrielle Lamont,ф I read Out loud. уHand it over, Georgia.ф
уWhat?ф she yelped, and looked at it. Her cheeks got very red.
уHand it over,ф I repeated.
уWell!ф said Georgia. уAnybody can make a mistake!ф She flung the note at Gabrielle and flounced off.
Gabrielle picked it up. уThanks,ф she whispered.
уUsual Yellow Cab Service,ф I said. уA pleasureфў which it was. Georgia Lammers is popular in a cheap, plunging-neckline way, but not with me. She acts as if she had invented sex.
Gabrielle started getting mail every dayўsome in envelopes, some just with a thumbtack shoved through folds. I wondered who it was; but every time I saw Gabrielle she was alone. I decided it must be someone her father did not like so they had to use notes to arrange secret dates. I told Cliff so, but he said I had an uncontrolled romantic imagination. -
Gabrielle got eleven notes that week and -I got only four, all from Cliff. I pointed this out and he said I did not appreciate my blessings and he was going to ration me to three a week. Men are exasperating.
I came up one morning as Gabriehle was taking down a note; this time Georgia Lammers was there. As Gabrielle left I said sweetly, уNothing for you, Georgia? Too bad. Or was it Gabrielleтs turn to swipe your note?ф -
Georgia sniffed and went into the Registrarтs office, where she is a part-time clerk. I thought no more about it until after five, when I was waiting in Old Main for Daddy, intending to ride home with him.
There was nothing on уH-To-Lф for me, or for Gabrielle, or Georgia. Nobody was around so I sat down on the Senior Bench and rested my feet.
I jumped when I heard someone behind me, but it was only Gabrielle. Sheтs a freshman, too, and anyhow she wouldnтt tell. But I didnтt sit down againўour senior committee thinks up fantastic punishments for ignoring their sacred privileges.
A good thing I didnтtўGeorgia came out Of the office then. But she did not notice me; -she went straight- to уH-To-Lф and unpinned a note. I thought: Maureen, your memory is slipping; there was nothing for her a minute ago.
Georgia turned and saw me. She flushed and said, уWhat are you staring at?ф
уSorry,ф I said. уI didnтt think there was a note for youўI just looked at the board.ф
She started to flare up, then she put on a catty smile. уWant to read it?ф
уHeavens, no!ф
уGo ahead!ф She shoved it at me. уItтs very interesting.ф
Puzzled, I took it. It was -a blank sheet, nothing but creases and thumbtack holes. уSomebody is playing jokes on you,ф I said.
уNot on me.ф
I turned it over. The address read: уMiss Gabrielle Lamont.ф
It finally soaked in that the address should have been уGeorgia Lammers.ф Or should have been for Georgia to touch it. I said, уThis note isnтt yours. You have no right to it~ф
уWhat note?ф уThis note.ф
уI donтt see any note. I see a blank sheet of paper.ф
уButў Look, you thought it was a note to Gabrielle. And you took it down anyway.ф
Her smile got nastier. уNo, I knew it wasnтt a note. Thatтs the point.ф
уHuh?ф -
She explained and I wanted to scratch her. Poor little Gabrielle had been sending notes to herself, just to get mail when everybody else didўand Georgia had caught on. Both girls had campus jobs which kept them late; Georgia had seen Gabrielle come in late a week earlier, look around, and pin up a note. Being a sneak, she had ducked out to find out to whom Gabrielle was writingў only to find that it was addressed to Gabrielle herself.
Poor Gabby! No wondНr I had never seen her with anyone. There wasnтt anyone.
