Elmer comes into the room and turns to face the crowd. "FUNKSPIEL!" he shouts again, in an inappropriately loud voice, and Waterhouse wonders whether the man is drunk or deaf or both. Elmer turns his back to them and stares at a bookcase for a while, then turns round to face them again, a look of astonishment on his face. "Ah was expectin’ a chalkboard t’be there," he says in a Texarkana accent. "What kind of a classroom is this?" There is nervous laughter around the room as everyone tries to figure out whether Elmer is cutting loose with some deadpan humor, or completely out of his mind.