Norma C Plummer Stories
Reading Snacks Five
DECODING THE DRESS CODE
When neighbours of a Military Institute were invited to come for tea at
the large home they maintained as their headquarters, the invitation
included notice of their Dress Code.
They suggested: ‘A dress code is in effect that requires people using
the annex dining room be dressed up; however, the remainder of the
facility requires only that clothing be in good repair.’
This wording sets off visions of guests pausing in their vestibule to
substitute a new patch for an old one, or going off to a charity for a
better outfit.
TEARS FROM THE GOBI DESERT
From a televised travelogue came a touching little episode with
Mongolian people in the Gobi Desert.
The herdsmen in some areas hold their wealth in camels. A solitary older
man appeared wearing an attractive deep red costume, while playing the
violin to about a hundred camels. These seemed more congenial in nature
than those of the hot deserts. The tune he was playing had a plaintive
quality with an oriental flavour.
The camels stood around him to listen, and tears appeared to roll down
from their eyes. It must have seemed to be soul music to them.
Really! I noticed the tears to my surprise with no help from a Hollywood
prop man.
KEEPING UMBRELLAS DRY
An incident about umbrellas came to light when Coleman Barks was walking
with another man. As they walked along together, it began to rain. He
noticed that the chap with him had an umbrella, so he asked:
‘Why don’t you put up your umbrella?’
‘Oh, it doesn’t work. It’s no good.’
‘Why did you bring it then?’
‘I didn’t expect it to rain.’
Coleman Barks is a teacher of poetry in the USA and a specialist in the
work of a 13th Century Sufi mystic, Jelalludin Rumi.