{"id":"01KG07AF7NMRXMF38XMBG6PN90","cid":"bafkreianqhyw5l2mdskxwgkwl6dx5swv273ms4sxvvlsghqzqwai7uxqhu","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":3111,"extracted_at":"2026-01-27T17:16:48.805Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 1","source_file":"01KFYTG9MG93RTB6YAW34V48XG","start_line":3066,"text":" 2935\t17\n 2936\tI was way early when I got there, so I just sat down on one of those leather\n 2937\tcouches right near the clock in the lobby and watched the girls. A lot of schools were\n 2938\thome for vacation already, and there were about a million girls sitting and standing\n 2939\taround waiting for their dates to show up. Girls with their legs crossed, girls with their\n 2940\tlegs not crossed, girls with terrific legs, girls with lousy legs, girls that looked like swell\n 2941\tgirls, girls that looked like they'd be bitches if you knew them. It was really nice\n 2942\tsightseeing, if you know what I mean. In a way, it was sort of depressing, too, because\n 2943\tyou kept wondering what the hell would happen to all of them. When they got out of\n 2944\tschool and college, I mean. You figured most of them would probably marry dopey guys.\n 2945\tGuys that always talk about how many miles they get to a gallon in their goddam cars.\n 2946\tGuys that get sore and childish as hell if you beat them at golf, or even just some stupid\n 2947\tgame like ping-pong. Guys that are very mean. Guys that never read books. Guys that are\n 2948\tvery boring--But I have to be careful about that. I mean about calling certain guys bores. I\n 2949\tdon't understand boring guys. I really don't. When I was at Elkton Hills, I roomed for\n 2950\tabout two months with this boy, Harris Mackim. He was very intelligent and all, but he\n 2951\twas one of the biggest bores I ever met. He had one of these very raspy voices, and he\n 2952\tnever stopped talking, practically. He never stopped talking, and what was awful was, he\n 2953\tnever said anything you wanted to hear in the first place. But he could do one thing. The\n 2954\tsonuvabitch could whistle better than anybody I ever heard. He'd be making his bed, or\n 2955\thanging up stuff in the closet--he was always hanging up stuff in the closet--it drove me\n 2956\tcrazy--and he'd be whistling while he did it, if he wasn't talking in this raspy voice. He\n 2957\tcould even whistle classical stuff, but most of the time he just whistled jazz. He could\n 2958\ttake something very jazzy, like \"Tin Roof Blues,\" and whistle it so nice and easy--right\n\n\n 2959\twhile he was hanging stuff up in the closet--that it could kill you. Naturally, I never told\n 2960\thim I thought he was a terrific whistler. I mean you don't just go up to somebody and say,\n 2961\t\"You're a terrific whistler.\" But I roomed with him for about two whole months, even\n 2962\tthough he bored me till I was half crazy, just because he was such a terrific whistler, the\n 2963\tbest I ever heard. So I don't know about bores. Maybe you shouldn't feel too sorry if you\n 2964\tsee some swell girl getting married to them. They don't hurt anybody, most of them, and\n 2965\tmaybe they're secretly all terrific whistlers or something. Who the hell knows? Not me.\n 2966\tFinally, old Sally started coming up the stairs, and I started down to meet her. She\n 2967\tlooked terrific. She really did. She had on this black coat and sort of a black beret. She\n 2968\thardly ever wore a hat, but that beret looked nice. The funny part is, I felt like marrying\n 2969\ther the minute I saw her. I'm crazy. I didn't even like her much, and yet all of a sudden I\n 2970\tfelt like I was in love with her and wanted to marry her. I swear to God I'm crazy. I admit\n 2971\tit.\n 2972\t\"Holden!\" she said. \"It's marvelous to see you! It's been ages.\" She had one of\n 2973\tthese very loud, embarrassing voices when you met her somewhere. She got away with it\n 2974\tbecause she was so damn good-looking, but it always gave me a pain in the ass.\n 2975\t\"Swell to see you,\" I said. I meant it, too. \"How are ya, anyway?\"\n 2976\t\"Absolutely marvelous. Am I late?\"\n 2977\tI told her no, but she was around ten minutes late, as a matter of fact. I didn't give\n 2978\ta damn, though. All that crap they have in cartoons in the Saturday Evening Post and all,","title":"Chunk 1"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG07252MX4J6CZDGDQKZRH28","peer_label":"17","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KFXT0KM64XT6K8W52TDEE0YS","peer_label":"More Classics","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"}],"ver":1,"created_at":"2026-01-27T17:16:49.586Z","ts":"2026-01-27T17:16:49.586Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}