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Along the Highway

He Never Left 'Nam

     On my end was a solemn hush. When Terry Morrow finally understood that I was more than merely a stranger without a purpose, he invited me to spend a few days with him. Bidding me make myself at home, he entered the "lean-to" for the purpose of preparing dinner. Never will I forget that supper. Stewed cabbage, 7-grain bread (just baked), coffee, without cream or sugar, and guavas for dessert. After we had done full justice to the meal, we sat down under the moonlight. Terry asked if I had any cigarettes, and when I handed him a Camel Light, he lit it and seemed perfectly content.
     We were seated on the porch of Terry's Town Parc apartment. I could see at a glance that the three of us were in for a long night. The retired Marine, Roland "Choo Choo" Crayger smoked his Marlboro ... 
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The Driver's Tale

Debauchery and Football: A Gator Tradition

     The madness had come to town. They started spilling into the community early on Friday, giving the place a feeling of density and pressure. Different factions roamed the streets in groups for safety. There were sneered threats and promises of revenge. Something serious was about to unfold. So serious that the police had erected barricades and the news media had warned the public. The tension was palpable. The universities of Florida and Tennessee were going to play a ball game.
     College football is taken seriously at Florida. It controls the pulse and the soul of the university. It amuses some, bewilders to others, and becomes addictive to a frightening few. More studious types are disgusted at the hold it has over academic life. They can't believe, for example, that classes would be canceled for homecoming or that students would be hustled out of their parking spots early on Friday to make room for rich alumni ...   
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Pain and the Prairie

Don't you just hate the damn GPD?

     It's Friday night and you've been invited to several places to enjoy the evening with various friends. But most of them are going to establishments where you must pay to get in, buy your drinks, then hide in a corner or behind others so you can drink because you're under 21. Too much hassle. Then it is brought up that there's this "huge" party going on at the Campus Club apartments; four kegs. What else is new? At least you can dress casual, get wasted for free and possibly "hook up."
     So you go and it's all you expected it to be. You grab a 16-ounce red plastic cup, fill it up with Bud Ice beer, walk over to a card game in progress and take a shot of some unknown clear liquid, mingle outside with all the smokers, fill up your red cup, talk to someone who says he/she has got the same chemistry class as you, fill up the red cup, take another shot, bum a cigarette while outside, fill up the cup one more time before ...  Read this story

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