Thursday, May 20, 2004
Town vs. Gown
Ruins of my college pad on Atwater in Bloomington.
In 1959 I went to IU as a transfer student, a sophomore with a 3.5 grade average (of 4) after 5 quarters at Indiana State. I would change my major from business/accounting to Comparative Literature. I sought off campus housing and looked at rooms and apartments in neighborhoods near 3rd Street and Kirkwood. I was 20.
I saw a kid on a bike in front of some steps. He was, perhaps, 11. I asked the kid if he knew of any places for rent and he looked me over and said, "Are you a man or a boy?"
I wanted to answer this question in his terms so I asked what he meant.
He frowned at me and asked if I worked.
I was a student and although I worked at my dad's bakery when I lived in Terre Haute, I did not plan to work in Bloomington that year. Although I had an idea that this was the wrong answer, I was on one of my "truth kicks".
"No." I did not work.
"You're a boy then." the little man said and he rode away without another word.
