It\u27s a natural and very common prejudice, I think. Possibly you foster the same one. In me, however, it amounts to an obsession, a supreme dislike for -- favorites. It doesn\u27t matter what kind of favorite it may be; a favorite book, a well-known actor, a famous food, a highly-touted athlete, or possibly even a favorite teacher. I\u27m against all of them -- before I know exactly why

Camhi, Isadore

Digital Commons @ Butler University

them into the rinse water as she went. Itwas always easier when she sang, so shestarted singing and kept it up till she wasdone. She had plenty of time to get throughall of the popular tunes, The Largo, TheLost Chord, and finally Die Lorelei in Ger-man. Die Lorelei was the best of all. Shehad rnemorized it in grade school, and sing-ing it now always left her feeling proud andself-sa tisfied.The dishes were all washed and readyto be dried now. That part of the jobwasn't so bad - except that the towel wasalways too damp toward the last. Anyhowit gave her a chance to smoke. She lit acigarette, took a few drags, put it on theshelf above the sink, and then alternatelydried dishes and smoked. Smoking alwaysmade her feel a little weak and dizzy, butit was something to do besides dry dishes,so she always did it.Finally the last dish was wiped andstacked with the others in a box. Now allshe had to do was scrub towels. Shechanged the water in the sink, poured in ahalf a bottle of chlorox, and started scrub-bing. After only a few scrubs, the chloroxhad penetrated the old blisters on herhands, and they broke open and bled. It'sa good thing this can't last forever, shethought. Now that she was so near theend of her job, she could even be philoso-phic about the blisters. And then she reallywas through.It didn't take long to put on freshmake-up and hurry back to the soda foun-tain. And when she did get there, Pete stillsat where she had left him. Good old,patient Pete, she thought, "Say, what'sthis I hear about your inventing a soda?"he asked. "I guess you can make me one.I'll try anything once."Kitty picked up a shiny glass and grin-ned. "Sure, I invented a soda, and youneedn't worry because you won't be takinga chance." She jerked just the right amountof vanilla syrup into the glass, tipped itsideways, and ran a thin, hard stream ofcarbonated water clear around the edge ofthe syrup until it nearly bubbled up to therim of the glass. Two dippers of raspberrysalad sherbet, a little more fizz, a dash ofwhipped cream topping, and her master-piece was done. Proudly, she surveyed thepale lavender in the glass and the whitefroth standing high above it. As she handedit across the counter to Pete, she said, "Icall it Lavender and Old Lace - witharsenic for the customers I don't like," andmade a face at him.FAVORITES --- I HATE THEMISADORE CAMHIIt's a natural and very common pre-judice, I think. Possibly you foster thesame one. In me, however, it amounts toan obsession, a sup1'eme dislike for-favorites. It doesn't matter what kind offavorite it may be; a favorite book, a well-known actor, a famous food, a highly-toutedathlete, or possibly even a favorite teacher.I'm against all of them - before I knowexactly why. Perhaps it is due to the factthat I, like most other human beings, havea hidden desire to be different, to stand outfrom the crowd. Perhaps it is that I amsimply too hard-headed to bow down inrespect for the favorite of the throng,Anyway, my prejudice doesn't worryme because it is a normal reaction in thatmost people sympathize with the underdog.They root for him, and in so doing, auto-matically pull against the favorite. It isreally a "see-saw" affair. It might evengive one the impression that it is the favor-ite who needs the sympathy since so manypeople want to see the underdog win. ButI shall not change horses in "mid-theme."-11-..I'm still prejudiced against the favorite,any favorite, all favorites.The first time I actually became con-scious of my then embryonic resentmenttoward favorites was during my first weekin grade school. The teacher had justfinished telling us of the misfortunes of theUgly Duckling. I was surprised by thestory, to say the least. It was so starklyrealistic - in a way. Yes, it was so true!The less colorful, more ordinary creaturesin the world were looked down upon byunsympathetic and often cruel eyes.Favorites were respected. One simply hadto be a white, normal duckling, not aclumsy, ugly duckling. Oh, Little RedRiding Hood and The Three Bears werevery nice stories too, but they did not pres-ent the problems that The Ugly Ducklingdid. As I went home that day, I made asecret vow always to boost the underdog,to supplement this glory with scorn andcontempt for the favorite. I was to be atleast one atom on the right side of thescales of justice. What ambitions for asix-year-oldlSince then, I have had thousands ofopportunities (but never enough nerve) tochampion the underdog and condemn thefavorite. Fortunately for me, I haverestricted my utterances to occasions whenI knew for certain that I would not belooked upon by my audience as an eccentricwind-bag. You see, I have no desire to bean underdog. But deep within me is thatmeek little voice which says, "Stick to youropinions, even if they are prejudiced opin-Ions."I am particularly prejudiced againstbest-selling novels. I have read severalso-called best sellers with extremely dis-appointing results. For Whom the BellTolls was far below the standard whicheveryone said it attained, in my opinion.Whenever I go to a library in search of agood novel now, I pass the best sellers andscout around for a book about which Ihave never heard before. If the booklooks fairly interesting, I attempt to read it.It is a grand feeling to discover a book andto tell people of your find. On the otherhand, if the book turns out to be ratherdull, you have lost nothing because youdidn't really expect anything. But did youever have that disappointed feeling I hadafter reading a best seller? It makes onefeel as though he is out of step with therest of the nation. Gradually it developsinto a prejudice against so-called favoritebooks.I have had that same disappointedfeeling from seeing movie epics and enjoy-ing the newsreels more than the billiondollar production. Don't you feel a sparkinside you when you watch a "sleeper"movie; that is, a movie for which nobodypredicted great success, but which youknow win be a great success? Did youever see a "bit player" show a tremendousamount of talent in just a small role whilethe highly-publicized star, the idol of thenation, amateurishly goes about his actingchores?Point-getters in athletic contests arenot as important to me as the men whomake it possible for them to score. Infootball, it takes a capable line; in basket-ball, there must be fast and accurate pas-sers. The point-getters get the publicttyand the hero-worship, while the othersmust stand in the background. Is it nowonder I'm prejudiced?Harboring a prejudice against favor-ites may also have its profitable side -sometimes. I'm referring, of course, tobetting on that 50-to-l shot, refugee-from-a-milk-wagon nag. My poor underdogswill never get that type of sympathy fromme, though, because I am afraid that itwould merely be an expensive way offinding out that my prejudice against favor-ites is unjust and impractical.-12-

Favorites --- I Hate Them

http://digitalcommons.butler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1059&context=manuscripts

Favorites --- I Hate Them

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

Digital Commons @ Butler University