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CONfRAST 1989
Gleckler
By Chloe Garretson ..Butt
. There are some people in high school you,
sunply do not like. They don't trip you in the
halls, steal your lunch money or even look at
you funny, yet they make you physically sick
~hen you pass them in the hall. You see their
mnocent faces and have to hold down your hand
to keep from slapping them. This may sound
strange, but is in fact avery real phenomena.
?ne such individual happened to invade my life
in the ninth grade. Joe Gleckler was his given
name, the name that graced his birth certificate,
but to everyone else he was just Gleckler.
Gleckler had one major flaw: his personality.
Joe had the amazing ability to not get along with
anybody. The teachers hated him, the cool kids
hated him, the intellectuals hated him, even the
nerds hated him. Physically he looked perfectly
normal, but this was mtsleadtng- Joe had short
blond hair cut short and parted to the side in
the typical prep school fashion. His nose was
straight and well shaped. His eyes were of an
acceptable shade of blue. He dressed in the
preppy style that was the rage of ninth grade.
This consisted of corduroys, oxford shirts and
leather boat shoes or "docksides~ as they were
fashionably called. The uninvolved observer
Wouldhave called Joe attractive. Those of us '
who had any experience of Joe knew better.
Since I had the misfortune to·share sev-
eral classes with Joe I had the thrilling opportu-
nity of observing his abnormal behavior in close
prOXimity. In an ordinary dull history class '
Whileeveryone was falling asleep Gleckler would
SUddenlyscream at the teacher. It would usu-
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