Not So Perfect

Renny Cribbin

Mrs. Schumacher

English 1, Period 1

13 October 2014

Not So Perfect

        People always use the saying that dishonesty gets you nowhere in life, well in this story you see that this statement is very much indeed a true statement. In the short story “The Glass Slipper” written by Alan Armer and Walter E. Grauman the two main characters Smitty and Duchess are in a small room off of the dance floor at a YMCA dance. Both of them throughout the short story become really dishonest with each other about their lives. Duchess seems to fancy Smitty but Smitty does not have the same feeling towards Duchess. The dishonesty leads these two “lovers” not to end up together as a couple.  

        There are some hints that are shown in the short story showing that Smitty and Duchess do not end up together. Smitty seems uncomfortable around Duchess when she mentions that they are “perfect” for each other and how she thinks that they will spend the rest of their lives together. So to try to make up an excuse to leave Duchess he mentions that ‘It’s getting late, Duchess, I better go” (Armer and Grauman). When Duchess mentions that she thinks they are perfect for each other Smitty feels uncomfortable and wants to leave and get away from her. Then Duchess asks for a ride home from Smitty and he declines and replies with “No, I got to catch the 12:30 Cross-town” (Armer and Grauman). Smitty might not have said directly that he doesn’t want to take Duchess home but he definitely infers that he doesn’t want to give her a ride. Later Duchess tries one more time to spend time with Smitty by giving the idea that they could walk because it wouldn’t be that far of a walk but Smitty responds and says “Work comes first, you know” (Armer and Grauman). Usually in a healthy relationship you would do anything for your wife or husband before anything else. Love is more important but according to Smitty to him work is most important and should come first before anything else.