College, Bowling and Coconut Cookies

My Dad and Mom insisted that brother Jack and I attend college. My father was a pipefitter and made good money when he was working. Problem was he often had long stretches between jobs when he and Mom lived on unemployment. During these times, Jack and I had to provide for ourselves.

During a down cycle in the construction business, I went an entire semester with almost no money. I was working at a bowling alley at the time and living in a one-room apartment with Trellis, a friend and fellow college student. Trellis was one of the smartest people I have ever met, but he had an attitude from hell.

Trellis was so smart that he did not need to study. This was a good thing because he never did. He once aced a calculus test, doing so by listening to the lectures. He never cracked a book or worked a problem. Oh, and did I mention that Trellis was as eccentric as they come?

Trellis loved to bowl and worked at the same bowling alley as I. That semester, he had more money than I did, but not much more. We stretched our food budget by buying powdered milk (ugh!) and cheap canned goods. I once bought ten cans of Showboat spaghetti for a dollar, and I still feel I came out on the short end of the stick.

Trellis was an only child and did not believe in sharing, and one of his many foibles was his distaste for coconut. The primary problem with eccentricity is that people can take advantage of you. While I am not a person that normally does that, I did take advantage of one of Trellis’ foibles, and even after all these years, I am still not ashamed of my actions.

Trellis had squirreled away enough money to buy a bag of chocolate chip cookies and a quart of real milk. As I watched, he began eating the cookies, one by one, and drinking the milk. I watched as he fished each cookie out of the bag, one at a time.

“Can’t you even give me one cookie?” I asked. “You have a whole bag full.” He just smirked, not even bothering to answer. It was then that I saw the flash of a word on the bag of cookies – the word coconut. “I thought you hated coconut,” I said.

Trellis was smart and got my meaning instantly. Following a long look at the cookie bag, he threw it at me in disgust.

“Help your self,” he said.

I did not much like coconut myself, but I never let Trellis know that, eating every single cookie as I smacked my lips and smiled, as if I had suddenly died and gone to heaven.

Finances became easier after that semester and I moved out of the apartment and back to the dorm. I lost contact with Trellis through the years but recently heard that he owns a bowling alley somewhere in California. Go figure!

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