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a Bit of DasH BetWeen tHe Kee anD tHe WaH
would have normally been consumed. Each person’s cost therefor (and therefore) turned out to be vastly greater than it would have been if everyone had eaten and drunk normally, exercising prudence with respect to both cost and consumption. Now this may make me sound like a Republican, which I decidedly am not, but I will never forget the effect of foreknowledge on sharing the bill that night. I still think of the lesson to be learned from that phenomenon as the “Pizza Principle.”
A Caddy for Daddy?
Enough, more than enough, said about being a co-op. There were three more summers at Kee-Wah, which will be dealt with with brevity, at least comparatively speaking.
In the summer of 1960, I was going into my senior year in high school, but when it came to camping, I felt that I had graduated. After nine years of adult supervision during the summers away from home, I would have no one to listen to, except the administration: I was a “can- teen boy,” which in some ways was better than being a counselor. I didn’t have campers to watch over, I didn’t have to serve as an O.D., and I therefore had every night off. I had a day off, the hours were not par- ticularly onerous, and I was actually paid for my services. As best as I can recall, there were five canteen boys, at least one of whom, Allen Miller, had been a canteen boy the year before. I guess some of us deferred to him, but one couldn’t say that he was in charge.
The canteen was a counter behind which two of us would work at a time, dispensing sodas, ice cream, candy, and the like to every camper and counselor in camp in exchange for scrip. Campers were permitted to get what they wanted at stipulated times, and counselors could be served whenever the canteen was open. The canteen was closed at night, so we had ample opportunity for a social life, and, if we knew people who would provide rides, Miller being one of them, we could leave campus. I don’t remember having to sign in if I went out for the evening, but it’s hard to believe that there wasn’t a curfew in effect.
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