For those who don't know what the SMI is .... stands for Saturday Morning Inspection, goes back to my days at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. Inspection every Saturday morning. Generally spent Friday night, in some cases, all night, getting ready. Bleach on the wood floors, everything dusted, cleaned and polished. Then on Saturday, The Inspection, often followed by a review, or parade, on the grounds, visiting dignitaries, a big occasion for th e school. That is an SMI.
Alice Tuttle always comes to mind on a Saturday morning, not sure why. I guess we often visited her on a Saturday, and she was always cleaning her apartment, so I associate this morning with Alice. She was a dealer at Harold's Club, had an apartment in Bob's building, Bob being a "slot man" who made a fortune .... "playing" ..... slot machines. Never found his secret. The last I heard of him, he was the "cash in" man on a Keno Fix .... walked up to the window with his winning $25,000.00 ticket and was arrested. That is the last I know of that.
For me, "Saturday Morning" is a different frame of mind. It's an ..... "aaawww" day, the week is over, time to relax and just say .... awwwwww. In retirement, each day is one, but still, Saturday is different. Goes back to my childhood, I am sure .... schools out .... freedom ..... nothing to do, just chill. I guess we didn't "chill" back then, not sure what term we used, maybe none, Saturday Morning was good enough.
For two years, aboard the old USS Mitchell, TAP114, all days were the same, especially at sea. I think we knew the day when we got our daily newspaper, or the POD, the Plan of the Day. I think Sunday was the only distinguishable day of the week.
Now, for the news of the day. There were quite a few shootings during the week, I think one in NJ or somewhere, four or so bodies in the street. I wonder if there is an agency somewhere that keeps track of the daily killings. The DKAO. The Daily Killing Accounting Office. "Ugh, Mr. Wilson, Senator Mason here, just what is your job there at the DKAO, as Director?"
"Well our purpose at DKAO is to keep a daily accounting of killings, well, let me rephrase that, shootings rather than killings, we keep a count on both incidents. Of course some shootings eventually become killings, so it gets rather complicated at times distinguishing the two. Our Agency has a staff of 300, and I assure you, we are busy all the time. Shootings are becoming quite a problem, and we work hand in hand with the Department of Defense, the IRS and Congress, to try to keep the population figures as accurate as possible. Naturally, it changes day to day."
"Ah, thank you Wilson, that will be all."
