"There was an empty field next to the road between my barracks building and the Officer’s barracks building where the little BX, the Library, and some meeting rooms where our U of Maryland
had classes. We had built a baseball diamond there. Softball was the game and drinking was optional. I say optional—can’t think of anyone who didn’t put down at least a few beers during one of our
games. Don’t really remember doing this more than a couple of times, though.
"And, while I’m on the topic of drinking, I remember one night at the NCO club when my two newbys and I were sitting at one of the tables, listening to a comedian do his thing.
One of the newbys decided he could have a few drinks—actually, he challenged me to a contest. Well, that was his mistake. After about an hour of drink after drink, he literally slid under the table. I got some help
and escorted him upstairs to our room. He never tried that again. (Neither did I.)
"And again at the NCO club, actually an EM, “enlisted members” club, (we had no separate club for our enlisted underlings,) one night the entertainer began telling his store
of the current in-vogue Pollock jokes. Before he started his fourth “joke,” our training NCO, whose name ended in –ski, invited him off the stage and told him in no uncertain terms that the Pollock jokes
were not exactly his favorites and, unless he wanted to step outside to discuss the matter in greater detail, maybe he should change his routine. Poor guy tried, but he was not quite the same for the rest of his routine.
Lesson: Don’t mess with the –ski’s."
And, lest anyone get the wrong impression here, my thoughts were gravitating towards a personal friend named "Richard." And, of course, if anyone were to want to try to guess Richard's last name, would you suspect a good start would be to go with a last syllable of "ski?" If so, you definitely would be on the right track.
Thanks for your time. If you would like just a bit more to this reading, check out Amazon.com, and take a look at page 128 of the book. (You may have to buy the book first, unless you are an Amazon Prime member. Membership does have it's advantages!)
Just checked--yep, purchase would be necessary (sorry!)
