More Stilwell frogs -- Reality Bites

Continuing, in no particular order, the digital restoration of "Stilwell," the comic that ran in 1971-73 in the Cleveland State University student weekly, The Cauldron... It's now the fall quarter of 1971. The strip had debuted during the previous spring quarter, and I was beginning to notice that it had a bit of a following. I had never done anything of noticeable significance before (or since, for that matter), so it was somewhat of an ego boost. (I remember that a student actually said to me that the cartoons were the only thing worth reading in the paper. Such was the caliber of intellectual curiosity that I surrounded myself with while I was there.) Be that as it may, realizing that some of the jabs that I took at campus life were resonating with my fellow students, I wondered if the crabby cafeteria lady who often had appeared in my comic had ever seen the strip. That's what inspired this one, published on Oct. 19, 1971. I had heard that they later transferred her to the Fenn Tower eatery across the street and that she eventually lost her job, though I can't verify that. I always wondered if I had had anything to do with that. I did know from personal experience that this woman, whose main job was manning the cash register at the end of the Stilwell cafeteria line, was unreasonably caustic with people who requested change for the vending machines adjacent to the checkout line. You have to remember that back in the early 1970s, coinage was more dominant as a medium of exchange than it is now in the 21st century. You could actually buy a modest meal for under a dollar back then. And while the vending machines at Stilwell's cafeteria made change, they weren't equipped to handle paper currency. So it was a major inconvenience if you didn't happen to have coins and wanted something from the machines. The cafeteria management also made attempts to discourage students from lingering in the cafeteria as a social hangout. I felt that the cafeteria people ought to be a little more accommodating. Anyway, here's how I imagined it might go if the crabby lady had discovered the strip.