Strayer-Upton Arithmetics

My friend Ben and I stopped at a Goodwill today. He was in need of a pair of swimming trunks, because we were on our way to swim in a community pool of an apartment complex. It's illegal to do so, of course. But we live to spite rules and regulations.

He had to decide between swimming trunks in the American flag style, or a pair with skulls all over them.
He chose the skulls.

I would have chosen the American flag, because I'm a rebel, and that's what America is based off of.

While he was in the changing room, I looked at the book section. I consider myself an amateur book collector. I'm well on my way to opening up my own little used book store (Filled only with books that I deem worthy of a spot on my shelf).

I found amongst all of the sappy paper-back romance novels and 1980-styled guides to raising your kids and home gardening a little brown book entitled Strayer-Upton Arithmetics Higher Grade (Published in 1928).

"This [book] aims to give pupils the ability to compute easily and accurately, and to enable them to interpret and solve the quantitative situations which they will meet in life." And so on and so forth goes the Preface to this dry little brown book.

Thank you, Messrs. George D. Strayer, Ph.D. and Clifford B. Upton, A.M for devoting perhaps years of your life to this noble service. I'm sure someone in this world might have been forced to reluctantly stick their nose into those pages and read about Trade Discounts. And I'm sure they're much better because of it.

No, I'm being too harsh. Arithmetics has its values, and I am in no place to disregard them. However, I don't understand how anyone could cope with themselves after writing a textbook of any sorts.

I bought the book. It's classy, and maybe some day when I need to learn about Trade Discounts, I will know where to look.