NEW AND IMPROVED

This blog is now sugar FREE, fat FREE, gluten FREE, all ORGANIC and all NATURAL!!

Friday, October 31, 2014

THE 'B-' BOOKSHELF


THE 'B-' BOOKSHELF
When I was in the eighth grade, all the boys took a class simply called Shop. 

The girls had Home Ec, where they learned the importance of cooking, cleaning and sprucing up for when Hubby came home from work.

The boys learned how to build stuff with tools.  I don’t know about the Home Ec instructors, but Shop teachers usually had eight and a half fingers, and a criminal record.  My eighth grade instructor Mr. Sanders fit right in with the stereotypical Shop teacher.

My very first class at Shop was spent learning all about the intricacies of the “Shop Wastebasket.”  The Shop wastebasket had a lid.  The lid was lifted with a foot pedal.  The wastebasket had a lid so that flammable materials could be disposed of without risk of starting a fire.  Some materials soaked with common Shop solvents could self-combust if not for the lid which cuts off the oxygen required for fire to take place. 

How Mr. Sanders turned that bit of fascinating material into a full 45 minute lecture pays tribute to his teaching skill.

There was a quiz.

I think I only took shop for one year.  Our grade was determined solely on the success of one construction project;  well 10% was the result of the “Shop Wastebasket” quiz.

For my project I selected a bookshelf.  It consisted of two ends carefully cut with a power jigsaw, a base, and two back supports the top which had an intricate pattern.  All the pieces were nailed together.  The bookshelf took several months to complete including sanding staining and applying varnish. 

Rags used to apply the stain and varnish were safely disposed of in the Shop Wastebasket.  Fortunately enough I knew how to work the wastebasket foot pedal and the school was safe from potential incineration.  

I received a B- on the bookshelf.  I was very proud of my bookshelf.

When I went to college I brought the bookshelf.  When I graduated from college I did not bring  the bookshelf home.  didn't know what happened to my bookshelf.

Thirty years later, I attended the first of what has become an annual college fraternity reunion.  The first host was my old roommate, Stu “Wally” Robinson; “Wally” because he bears a striking resemblance to the old comedic actor, Wally Cox (GIYP.)

Wally who was now a very successful executive for one of the largest construction firms in the country took me on a tour of his home.  As we passed his laundry room, I spied the B- bookshelf which was now apparently a B- laundry product shelf.

“Yo…so that’s what happened to it!”

“Happened to what?”

“My B- bookshelf, I haven’t seen it since college, I figured it just got tossed.”

“What, toss such a beautiful piece of workmanship? (Wally is known for his dry sense of humor) You gave it to me for my apartment after I got married before our last semester.”

“Did I?  Well as long as it serves a useful purpose.”

I didn't want to claim it was stolen (which I think it was) because then Wally might remind me of what an ass I made of myself at his wedding (liquor and a piano were involved), an event that I’m not sure to this day I was even invited to attend. 

The subject was dropped.

The next year the reunion was hosted by Carl “Gawk” Anderson; so named because, well he is just a big Gawk.  When that event ended, Wally presented me with a  neatly gift wrapped present.  It looked strangely like a small book shelf.  Unwrapped, it was indeed the B- bookshelf.

I took it home and it now is proudly hung in my garage where it became a B- nail and screw box holder.


I should probably re-wrap it for the reunion next year and return it to Wally.

Naw…I earned that B- and I'm using that shelf.

11 comments:

  1. awesome! glad it made it back HOME! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a great story about your B- bookshelf. I'm glad you have it back and I wouldn't part with it either. Good for you.

    Have a fabulous day and a very happy Halloween. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I still use the corner shelf my daughter made in shop class. In fact, it's going back up in my new bathroom.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Since we went to school around the same time, my "Shop" experience was similar to yours. I also created a decorative shelf, only smaller. My mom had it in the kitchen for years. I have no idea what happened to it, but I intend to keep my mouth shut because I don't want anyone returning it to me.

    ReplyDelete
  5. We all made spice racks in shop, and wooden paddles for some of the teachers which most of us saw again, my spice rack was in my Mom's kitchen for years, not sure where it ended up.

    Yes I would hold on to the B bookshelf, after all you did earn it and if you gift it back he just may keep it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It looks charming to me!!! Our "shop" classes were held in one of those trailers they set up outside (portables) when they ran out of space in the main building. The shop teachers did always seem a little creepy, now that you mention it! I took home ec class, but even in the 80s, they were steering them toward being more modern. We learned how to cook, nutrition, etc. They even took us to a day care for a morning to scare us--I mean SHOW us what having children was like!

    ReplyDelete
  7. I still have my B- letter holder.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Had to laugh at your description of "shop teachers". You have to admit, when you build something--it lasts. Definitely an A+ for durability and rather nice looking also. Hang on to it or better yet, leave it in your will.

    ReplyDelete
  9. That bookshelf might bring $3.00 at the auction. Which is more than I can say for my 8th grade cheese souffle.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love this for 2 reasons, one that something made years ago is still in existent and back to its rightful owner and two that you have friends from way back then that you still see occasionally. I took Home Ec, mind you I graduated high school 1975, but I still remember the one piece of advice the teacher gave "do your dishes as they get dirty while you are cooking dinner so you won't have so much to clean up with afterwards." I still do that to this day LOL

    betty

    ReplyDelete
  11. It's a fine looking shelf and I'm glad it is still in use after all these years. my brother learned woodwork too and made a couple of really nice cabinets for our mum. I would have liked to learn, but as you said, girls did Home Ec and learned how to properly make a bed with hospital corners on the sheets and how to make something called Apple Crisp. Pfft!!

    ReplyDelete