The Wise Bamboo by Lt. J. Malcolm Morris

Author:Lt. J. Malcolm Morris [Morris, Lt. J. Malcolm]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Military, United States, Europe, General, Germany, Asia, Japan
ISBN: 9781786259387
Google: 3YbEDAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
Published: 2016-07-26T03:00:57+00:00

Children and animals were not allowed in the Imperial Hotel and, inasmuch as we were pretty well convinced that our offspring would be one or the other, we had to make plans to move to a house. Fran finished up the phase of the work she was doing for Sir William Webb and then went down to the Civilian Personnel Section to resign from her position. It was not an easy thing to do. She called me from that office to give me some awkward news.

“They tell me that you are not authorized to have a dependent in Japan and if I resign they’ll have to ship me home on the next boat,” she told me.

“What!”

“That’s what the lady said.”

“Then tell them to get two tickets for that boat because I’ll be on it with you.”

“Do you want to speak to the people here about it?” “Yes. Put somebody on the wire.”

The clerk informed me that as far as Civilian Personnel was concerned I did not have a wife in Japan. Fran was just a Department of the Army civilian employee.

“It’s just that officially you don’t have a wife,” she said. “You shock me,” I told her. “Do you mean I’ve been living in a state of quasi-sin for the past year?”

“Oh, Mr. Morris,” she simpered. “What a thing to say.

“Hold on a minute,” I said. “I have to take a call on the other phone.”

“It’s the Payroll Section of Civilian Personnel,” my secretary told me.

“Oh,” I said, “maybe they are in on this.”

“Mr. Morris?” a female voice asked. “Do you have your wife living with you at the hotel?”

“Well, there’s some question about that,” I said. “I’m living with a woman I’m married to, but there’s another office from your section on the other phone that has just informed me that I am not allowed to have a wife.”

“Huh?”

“That’s what they tell me.”

“Well, I don’t understand but ail I know is that we have been charging you and your wife the DAC rental charge but since she’s your wife we should have been charging you the dependent rental charge. So you owe us nine hundred dollars.”

“What!”

“Yes. You see the rental charge for a single DAC is much less than for a family.”

“You mean it’s cheaper to have a mistress than a wife.”

“Huh? Oh, er...I...er...Mr. Morris, I just want to know if you have your wife living with you.”

“Hold on a moment,” I said. “I’ll ask the lady on the other phone.”

“Hello,” I said into the other mouthpiece. “Now will you tell me again whether I have a wife, or not?”

“As far as this office is concerned, Mr. Morris,” the girl said patiently, “you do not officially have a wife in this theatre.”

“Hello,” I said into the other phone. “The lady says that Mrs. Morris is not my wife.”

“What?”

“That’s what she said, she said that.”

“Well, I don’t think she knows what she’s talking about. All I know is that you owe us nine hundred dollars and you’ll have to pay it.

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