The Shaft

Seth Harvey 1951

For a good three weeks before every school dance, there looms dark and menacing a threat far worse than any plague or famine – the threat of the “shaft.” Every telegram is received with terror, every letter with shaking hands. The handwriting is analyzed, odds are given, bets taken. It is usually the first sentence that tells the dreadful story: “I’d simply love to come but…,” and another long face joins the ranks of the shafted; another name goes up on stag list. All are humbled before it’s mighty power as young and old, the experienced and beginner, are struck.

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