My book group just met to discuss the Jean Shepherd's book "Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories and Other Disasters." We had planned to "meet" over Zoom and we did. It has recently snowed and that can be a problem but it turns out that the roads are fine around here. Still, the use of Zoom and similar meeting software enable people far away to participate easily and inexpensively. Other local organizations have had participation by people in Arizona and in London. We are 100 miles away from the lively capital of the state but experts of various kinds have delivered "live" presentations from there.
I am the least member of the group. I often skip the whole book, but this time, I did read the title story and it was good enough that I read it aloud to Lynn while she did a jigsaw puzzle. During today's discussion, enough merry references to other stories in the book came up, that I have simply got to read some of the other stories.
Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories didn't seem to be a disaster to me. It was a first date between a high school young man and Wanda, a student at the same high school. It seemed to go well. Nobody was terribly embarrassed nor made any giant faux pas. The line in the book that struck me was when the hero, his date and the other couple all stopped at a bar afterwards. The waiter asked our hero if he wanted a drink and our guy said," Make it a triple."
My family wasn't big drinkers and alcohol was neither worshiped or hated. I had a sip of my grandmother's drink at her dining room table when I was about 8 years old. I wasn't impressed and I didn't long for more or for reaching the age when I could have more. I have never even heard of a "triple", only a double. If I took a girl to a dance at my all-boys, public high school, it was either by mooching a ride or by using public transportation. But had I been driving, I would order a drink, maybe. Definitely not a double nor a triple.
