I couldn’t stand teaching on a field of gooey, carpeted dirt. After a few weeks, the place started to look like fallout from a nuclear blast. I wanted Old Faithful back.

When I asked Old Faithful for a few cans of the spray that removed gum by freezing it, he told me he missed the free goodies.

As he handed me a half-dozen cans, he said, “Don’t let the spray touch your fingers. You’ll get frostbite. Try wearing protective gloves.”

Do you know how much gum 200 students can leave stuck in a classroom carpet?

Great! I earned combat pay in Vietnam for being shot at. I wondered if I should put in a request for hazardous-duty pay.

For the next few weeks, I crawled around scraping gum off the carpet. I also bought a vacuum and used it daily.

I now had two jobs—teacher and custodian while Bookie’s Dream was paid to sleep and place bets.

Some readers might wonder why I let the kids chew gum. Easy answer—I didn’t have x-ray vision and most kids make sure they weren’t chewing when I was looking. Lucky for them too.

If I had superman’s talents, I would have sizzled a few along with Bookie’s Dream.

Discover What is San Bernardino Saying about Vandalism?

Continued in Bookie’s Dream, Old Faithful and Chewing Gum – Part 3 or return to Part 1

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Lloyd Lofthouse is the award-winning author of the concubine saga, My Splendid Concubine & Our Hart. When you love a Chinese woman, you marry her family and culture too.

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