Page 199 - WhyAsInY

you Can taKe tHe Boy out of BrooKlyn
a prestigious law firm in Manhattan, and then went on to work in the government. On the other hand, his son-in-law was Charles A. Lindbergh, the “Lone Eagle.” It was perhaps for this reason that Morrow was devoted to freshmen who wished to live in some form of isolation (or who were put in some form of isolation).
Unfortunately, Eddie Ornstein had once again cast a nicotine shadow over me. The same questionnaire from which I surmised that I would have a compatible roommate had asked—and I must have forgot- ten it—“Do you smoke?” I believe that I ended up in Morrow because I did. I also believe that the fact that I got a single room assigned to me was not, on balance, a helpful one; the guys who had doubles and triples in James and Stearns, the other two freshman dorms, which were adja- cent to each other but at a remove from Morrow, just seemed to integrate more quickly into the life of the college. It must have been an illusion, but they also seemed to have had more fun at the outset. On the other hand, I assumed that it would be easier to study if there was no room- mate to contend with. As I was assigned a single, my chiffonier question would have to wait a bit more until I got the lay of the land. But that should be no big deal. Everybody in Morrow was in the same boat, just not the same room.
What was the best way to meet someone? Well, it might have been the hallway, which was later to become the scene of almost continuous activity, but the hallway was empty during the first days. The first fresh- man whom I met at Amherst was the one who was in the men’s room at the same time as I was when I had my first collegiate call from nature. He was Roger Scott Jr., and I had never encountered a boy who was as blond and white as he was. Plus, he had a crew cut. (I will admit that at the time my hair was what one might call “greasy.”) It was not so much his looks, however, as it was our first, very brief, conversation that told me that I was in a new place. We must have greeted each other, and then he asked me a question that I don’t recall. I don’t recall my answer either, but it was some very straightforward, factual statement. Roger’s response to my statement was “Is that right?”
I now know that “Is that right?” is somewhat of a conversational • 181 •