The Coolidge examiner., 1934-02-09
FATALISTIC
8
b. r. II. WILKINSON
Q nsll s5s3lsa's --wNu service

n sue soft oi a person
n This is strange. too. when
you consider his wealthy uncle died
not long ago and bequcathed 10 the
younx man the SUN Of two million
dollars. which amount has kept Al.
vim more or less on the jump cver
since Ia an cudeavor 90 spend more
than his investments bring ln.
ON the other hand. when you c'n.
slider that. az the age % twenty one.
Alvin has visited every country Ia
the world. attended every known
function everywhere of any national
or world side Interest dAbhled Ia
every sort of business. met all kinds
of people aad achieved more or Jess
fame as an expert Ia a variety %
sports-when you bear these things
in mind you do not wonder that The
younxster Is somewhat bored with
life and II apt to devote some of his
idle moments. of which there are
now countless numbers, 20 brood
lng.
For Alviu is DOT the type % fatal.
lst who predicts disaster for The
universe at large; bis prophecies
concern only his own destiny.
lie f. the sort Of person. who.
upon taking leave ~ your com
pany after a brief visit. augments
his conventional farewell with.
We'll. see you tomorrow--K I'm
not run over by a truck In the
meantime"
Ia fact. Alvin has injected this
phrase into his farcwells SO often
that friends aud aequnlntances have
bestowed upon him. 10 a spirit OF
FUN. the monlker. Run over by
Truck Alvin"
Indeed. Alvin has brooded over
the matter. considered It's posslbll-
tiles 10 such an extent that be has
actually come 70 believe his death
10 destined 10 be brought about BY
careless truck driver.
With him the thing i no laughing
matter.
He has carefully weighed and Ok
urcd the chances
He has added Up the number of
times he crosses busy streets dur
INK the course o, one day, multi
piled this figure by seven. averaged
The number % trucks that cross his
path in an equal number of days
and discovered that during the week
he has 2ss. excellent opportunities
Of being annihllated BY a truck
The thlng has become an obses-
sion: be has remarked upon lt 50
many times that we who are closely
associated with the youth have come
10 the conclusion that the boy VIII
feel disappointed unless a truck
does actually natten him out on
some well-paved highway.
Recently a number Of Us called
on Alvin and. after a period of urs-
Ink. prevailed upon him 20 take
world cruise
We waived his argument that be
had been on world cruises before
What be needed. we told him.
was a change OF atmosphere. eli
mate and associates, something 10
drive this silly getting killedby-a
truck notion from his head
The thing was warplng his brain.
He'd better nip Il In the bud be-
fore funny wagon backed up 70
his front door some day and man
in uniform crooked his finger Ia his
direction.
Much 20 our relief Alvin consent
ed TO make the attempt
He agreed with us that he was
spending too much time OF late
thinking about himself.
Il was with the sense OF duty
well performed that we waved Al
WINS liner away from the dock, and
returned TO our various occupa-
tons
He was a good boy. likable and
generous to a fault. and we hated
to see a little thing Ike being
knocked for a row Of gooseberry
bushes by a ten-ton truck upset his
mentality.
A month after Alvin set sail, Vie
tor Perry returned 10 Boston from
trip abroad.
We were talking OF Vic one night
at the club when he mentioned hav-
Ing met Alvin In France.
or course. we were delighted TO
have frst-hand news OF our patient
How is heT' l asked Vic. He
didn't mention anything about
trucks, did hef"
"TrucksF"
"Yes. You see. Alvin has devel-
oped an insane idea that sooner or
later a truck is going 10 crush him
into nothlngness. We advised him
10 take a trip around the world and
drive the thing from his mind"
Vic laughed.
Wen, you succeeded. No. Alvin
didn't say word about trucks. But
be did mention steamships"