| Show Y M C A HUT IS THEIR HANGOUT yanks travel many miles to spend evening in the club SOMEBODY ALWAYS OH JOB Y guy can be depended upon to get move on in emergency men made to feel perfectly free and unrestrained by CLARENCE BUDINGTON KEL LAND paris thirty sailors off an can war vessel hired a motor truck and drove nine miles to tet to the r 61 C A club lu a famous I 1 city I 1 asked chein why it s a regular hingott hin gout one of them ald and another added ke canue you get white bread with butter on it and eggs fried on both sides and toffee with piano accompaniment As soon as I 1 broke into the place I 1 found why men would ilde nine roller on a truck to loaf there eight til it the sort of place folks in the united states imagine a 1 M C A to be it was a swelteringly hot night and the aroid front steps were lined from end to end with men in and men in navy blue they were gassing and smoking until the place looked as it the captain had ordered a smoke screen to help him through the submarine zone I 1 roin the street ou could hear a piano doing business and a lot in uniform howling joan of arc if the mothers of these boys could have heard that racket their hearts would have dropped off a pound of weight and increased their beat by ten to the second they sang as it they were glad to be alive right on the job and then somebody busted up the game A sailo came in and made the announcement that the driver of their truck refused to take theia back to quarters again and it was a walk of nine miles on a hot night or a stretch in the brig for them gloom descended then somebody turned around and bellowed wheres one of them Y gus A 1 guy happened to be on the spot and in a second he was surround ed not by a crowd of men who were angry or in a mood to demand something but by fellows who were mighty courteous in an unpleasant situation that was something worth remarking and it made you sort of glad to be around they put the thing up to the V guy and one fellow said sort of bashful like e dont want to act like we was putten this up to you taint your fault but it was apparent they had gotten the idea somehow that you could depend on a Y guy to get a move on him and the Y guy allowed as much sure its up to us he said why were here inside of twenty minutes he was back with a big truck with a red trl angle on the side of it lie tucked the thirty sall ormen into it and off they went to keep their appointment with their boss that quite likely Is one reason why they rode nine miles to spend an evening in the Y M C A because they knew somebody was on the job like you owned the place another reason Is that you don t have to knock show a ticket wiggle your first finger or roll over and play dead to get in you just walk in like you were there to foreclose a first mort gigo on the place ahen you walk through the front door 5 on dont run into a lecture hall there ts one upstairs and the od r hint comes to your nose isn t the odor of its the smell of fried eggs ahe cafeteria Is lie first tiling wu and it vou are wise vou get acquainted with it and stay acquainted while ou are in this lo 10 for it Is the host and cheapest plate to eat in town I 1 know because I 1 tried several the most impressive thing about it Is the complete absence of an latious welcome you just help yourself and nobody avs a word you wander in and eat and wipe your mouth on our sleeve and hike si to mess around on a piano or walte a letter or play billiards or to do as vou dogg ojie apse ou are free lo 10 beable be able to make a huge number of men feel perfectly free and ed and at home Is quite some little ac I 1 haven t had time to fand out how it Is done but the next time I 1 have a party at my house im going to try it on its the real thing in hospitality |
