GREAT MINDS RUN IN THE SAME CHANNEL--OR

When I was in high school, Rocky And Bullwinkle was popular; it was on television prior to American Bandstand; we watched both daily after coming home from school. I loved the characters, the segments with The Wayback Machine, Mr. Peabody, Fractured Fairy Tales, Mr. Know-It-All, and Dudley Do-Right, but my favorite part was at the end of each episode, which was always a cliff-hanger, where the announcer [I later learned was William Conrad] would intone dramatically about the next episode.  E.G.: one about Rocky being trapped on a mountain: "Be with us next time for AVALANCHE IS BETTER THAN NONE--OR--SNOW'S YOUR OLD MAN!" I loved the puns.

A friend and I would constantly be using "OR" references much to the irritation of family, friends and teachers and I sometimes do it today.  Algebra was my first class of the day and my friend and I would be chattering animatedly about the previous day's Rocky episode. After tiring of hearing us, the Algebra teacher, Mr. White, said, "Great minds run in the same channel OR fools think alike." Touche, Mr. White!

Mr. White did not have a pleasant smell about him and I think that he wore the same clothes all week long. He wore different ties occasionally but his white shirt was dingy and his trousers were always shiny on the rear and one could see chalk residue on them from the previous day. [It just dawned on me that they were from a suit which, of course, was not washable and needed to be dry-cleaned; he probably couldn't afford to have them dry-cleaned] He would also have little bits of toilet paper stuck to his face where he'd nicked himself shaving. I thought about giving him one of my father's styptic pencils.

I did well in Algebra--with the help of my brothers--and although I do NOT remember Algebraic formulas today--I DO remember Rocky And Bullwinkle and especially all of the "inside" references which were usually Yiddish.  It's interesting that the term, Wayback Machine  is now an internet colloquialism for past events.

HOKEY SMOKE, Bullwinkle! You're still relevant!