THE FOOTNOTES

My   desk  in my high school    Shakespeare  class  was unstrategically  placed directly  in front  of  our  teacher,   Miss  Connors , who  was   from  England,  and  knew a thing or two  about  the  subject.
So  when she asked a question  about a  Shakespeare  reading assignment,   I  had  no  place to  hide.  She was looking  right at  me,  and  naturally   she    figured  I  would  know the answer because  I  knew everything  else.    It  would have been  in my favor if I  had  read  the assignment,  but  feeling  as I  did about  the  strange  lingo this  guy  wrote,  and  conflicts with  my  busy  social  interests,  I  had   deferred  completing  my  responsibility.   It  must be  one of  Murphy's  Laws,  if you don't do the reading,  you will be the  one called  upon  to  discuss it.   Consequently,  she  called on  me.  My  reponse  must  not have been  germane,  since she  inquired,  " Do  you  mean to tell me,  Mr. Noonan
that  you  do  not  undestand  this  passage?"   I  threw myself  on  her cultured  mercy by  saying,"That's what  I.m  trying to tell you."
    So  isn't it  strange  that  69  years  later  I  realize  that  Shakespeare had me in  mind  when  he  wrote his  "Seven  Ages  Of  Man."   The  seventh  age  sounds  a  lot  like my  situation, and I  quote,"Last  scene of  all  that  ends  this  strange,  eventful  history is  second  childishness  and mere oblivion  sans  teeth,  sans eyes,  sans   taste,  sans  everything."