FRITTS WRITING INDEX


Index of Stories on this Page

  • Between a Rock and a Hard Place
    		•
  • Dixie and the Rebel Flag
    		•
  • My Sock Drawer
  • To Have a Friend
    		•
  • Beware of Love (Waterloo)
    		•
  • The Closet

    • More Stories on Other Pages

  • The Hunter
    		•
  • Race Relations, Jake & Charles
  • Weapons, Guns, Firearms
    		•
  • Tribute to Mom
  • New Beginning
    		•
  • spare




    • BETWEEN A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

    Pity this poor American Nation

    Trying to solve the situation.

    The poor Negro, he deserves better,

    But the Kennedy brothers couldn't be wetter.

    Laws cannot be made to make Man love Man.

    It is as useless as epitaphs written in sand.

    In this Nation, there is a hate,

    It will take generations to eradicate.

    Pity this poor American Nation,

    Trying to solve the situation.


    By: Carl H. Fritts, Jr. September 18, 1963


    2004 update:
    Much progress has been made in race relations in the past 41 years. Little did I know when I wrote this that both John Kennedy and his brother Bobby would be murdered within five years. While I still agree with my statement that "Laws cannot be made to make Man love Man", I think the civil rights laws that were passed after President Kennedy's death did a lot to improve relations between the races. I agree with the view expressed by President Carter that those laws freed up a lot of white people, who believe in the rule of law and have respect for the law of the land, to put some of the old ways behind them. But our "American Nation" still has much work to be done to "solve the situation." chf, 2004


    BACK TO TOP



    DIXIE AND THE REBEL FLAG

    Sometime back in the middle 1980's, I was sitting in a theater at a Veteran's Administration Medical Center along with hundereds of veterans watching the performance of a West-Tennessee musical group. I was sitting with a very good friend of mine and one of the best people I know. As the group on stage starting trying to get the audience involved, they swung into Elvis' Triology which begins with the soulful strains of "Dixie". Along with most of the audience, I jumped to my feet and started clapping and cheering. Then I felt my friend alongside me reach up and jerk me down to my seat.
    "Why are you cheering for that song?" she asked. "Don't you know what that song and the rebel flag mean to us?"
    "No", I said, "I had no idea. It is just a rousing fight song to me."
    "Well, for me, it represents all the atrocities committed on black people by the Ku Klux Klan and others. It is the flag and fight song of the white racist." She said.
    "I truly had no idea." I said as I looked into her tearful eyes.
    "Cheering for that song is like slapping me and your other black friends in the face." she said.
    "Well, I certainly had no intent to offend my friends." I said, "Now that I know, I will never knowlingly do anything to offend a friend."

    by Carl Fritts - 2001

    BACK TO TOP

    In response to feedback (both of you)concerning my thrilling story about the clothes closet hangers, we are providing the story below:

    My Sock Drawer

    "How do I manage my socks?", you ask. It is very simple. I only buy two different colors. One is navy blue to wear with my black shoes. The other is brown to wear with my brown shoes. With this method there are no problems with losing one of a pair because they all match. Seriously, if I did not receive other colors of socks for gifts, mine would all be navy blue or brown. OK. There you have it.
    BACK TO TOP


    I did not write this poem. It was given to by a girl I dated back when I was about 19 years old in Huntsville, Ala. It was her way of telling me that she did not want to date me anymore. I think it is good.

    To Have a Friend

    A fight for life,
    War with no end.
    The horizon to see,
    A start to begin.

    Befriend upon the instant,
    One who tells a tale.
    Turn from the other,
    Try again and fail.

    Tie with bigger knots
    That which is wanted.
    Loose again that feeling,
    One that leaves no thread.

    12/62 SLL

    Although I remember SLL’s face very well, I cannot recall her name. If any reader happens to know who she is, please let me know and I will give her the credit she deserves.

    This poem was written when I was a Freshman at Tennessee Tech in the fall of 1961. It was written to see if I could get anything published in a literary publication for students. It was published with the title, “Waterloo”. This poem is not about me but my roommate at the time.

    Beware of Love (Waterloo)

    See him walk as he passes by
    Free as an eagle, soaring high.
    Proudly, he boasts, “It’ll never touch me,
    My future is planned the way it will be.”
    So cocksure, he speaks and smiles,
    Seemingly unaware of feminine wiles.
    Then he meets her! Talk comes easy.
    “Why is my stomach feeling so queasy?”
    Hour after hour, they plan and commune.
    Every mood, every thought, completely in tune.
    “Go away girl! I don’t like you!
    But without you now, why am I blue?”
    “No? Yes? Yes? No? Yes. Yes, I do.
    I’ve fallen, fallen in love with you.”
    Is he happy! And he thinks all’s well,
    But there goes his future, shot to hell.

    by Carl Fritts 1961

    BACK TO TOP


    Here is Carl's first story:

    The Closet

    I spent about 25 years of my life trying to bring order to my clothes closet by putting my pants on the right and my shirts on the left and ties in the middle. When I dress, I take a pair of pants from the far left side and a shirt from the far right. After Donna washes the laundry, she puts the fresh clothes in the center with shirts to the right of the ties and pants to the left. This has worked well for all these years. However, I had always pulled the shirts off the hangers leaving the empty hangers on the rack sticking out from the shirts. Recently, it suddenly dawned on me one day to pull the shirt and hanger out at the same time, remove the shirt, and place the empty hanger back into the center by the ties. Boy, whata change! No more clutter. Empty hangers are easy to find. It's great! Try it. It may make a difference for you too. Do you suppose this is why I make such a great fashion statement?

    BACK TO TOP

    Home Page

    Send E-Mail to Carl.


    This page created on May 1, 1997.
    Last modified Aug. 29, 2007 at 6:31 A.M.
    All Rights Reserved.