petribren1948

@@@@@There's been something the matter with him ever since that first squad came back from the front; it's the combat, I suppose, it makes changes in a manBut when I first met him he was such a cheerful fellow, a regular Pollyanna, I figured he could get along with anyoneFirst impressions, it doesn't pay to follow themSomeone like Brown, he's too sure of himself, he goes on first impressions, that's why he has it in for meJust because I stayed on guard too long one night; if I'd tried to cut off a few minutes for myself, then he'd have a case, but this way I think he just has it in for me Roth rubbed his nose and sighedI could be friends with them but what do I have in common? They don't understand me and I don't understand themTo pal around you have to have a species of confidence I don't possessIf it hadn't been the depression when I got out of collegeBut what's the use of kidding myself, I'm not the aggressive type, I never would have been much of a successYou can kid yourself just so longI can see it here in the Army, all they know is that I can't do as much manual labor as they can so they look down on meThey don't know what goes on inside my head, they don't careWhat are finer thoughts to them, intellect? If they'd let me I could be a good friend to them, I'm matureI've had experience, there're things I could tell them, but would they listen to me? Roth clicked his tongue in frustrationIt's always been this way with meStill, if I could get a job which fitted my qualifications, I could make a success of myself He passed by the strip of beach where the kelp had washed ashore, and curious, he went over to examine itGiant kelp, I should know something about that, it was my major only I've forgotten it allThe thought made him bitterWhat's the use of all that education, when you can't even remember it? He looked down at the kelp, and held the head of one in his handIt looks like a snakeSuch a simple organismIt's got an anchor in its tail where it fastens onto a rock, and it's got a mouth at the top, and a connection between themWhat could be simpler? A basic organism, brown algae, that's what it is, if I were to try it would all come back t