RODNEY ROACH AND THE MEN'S “LOUNGE”

For many years the teacher's lounges at Seneca were separated lounges with women using one and men using the other. I either never knew or can't remember if that was by design or by evolution, but the rules were not strictly enforced and I spend some time in both. The Men's lounge, and I use the word lounge with my tongue planted firmly in my cheek, was a room not much larger than a big closet. It was about 6 feet by twelve feet and back in the time when almost everyone smoked, it was often filled with ten to 15 men smoking cigarettes as quickly as possible because we would hurry down and smoke during class breaks. . As one gazed through the tobacco haze one could observe hot ashes of about an inch hanging from cigarettes. I will assure that, with the correct timing, combined with years of experience and practice, a relatively healthy person, usually a man, could go two or three hundred feet to the lounge in a busy hallway duck into the lounge, suck, enthusiastically on a cigarette, dash back to the classroom with seconds to spare. There were amazing happenings and tall tales going on in the lounge all the time and one thing a teacher tried not to do was to draw attention to themselves for anything positive or negative because that teacher would be in danger of receiving serious and embarrassing attention the following day. I shall relate some of those in the chapter “?????????????”

besides smoking in the “lounge there was a tiny bathroom with barely enough room for a toilet and basin and we often ate our lunches in the lounges and reveled in the “I can top that one” stories that were constantly present.

One day the Principal came in and made the observation that smoking on that room was dangerous because we might accidentally start a five. At this point, you need to know that the room had smoked stained concrete block walls and non-flammable, and usually un-repaired furniture. We pointed this out and he drew our attention to the intercom speaker that had been stuffed with those brown bathroom paper towels because the volume on the speakers rivaled that of a concert by “The Who.” It was located in the ceiling 14 feet above the floor. We all then tried to flip lit cigarettes up to the speaker but never succeeded. This was about the time that busing had been instituted in Louisville and the men were required to wear neckties and all teachers had to wear identifications tags.

The Principal directed us to stop smoking, and eating in the lounge. Within a few days there appeared on a small side table an enormous roach (about 15 inches long and 6 inches wide with large fierce looking teeth and fangs, with a cigarette in his mouth, wearing a tie and a tiny, nearly exact replica of the official name tag issued by the Board of Education. The name tag read Rodney Roach but the greatest of the characteristic of Rodney, was that his immense body was constructed, are you ready, with brown lunch bags. Rodney became a cherished Icon and remained in the lounge for a number of year before old age and decomposition final spelled his demise.