Barley

The boy was in fifth grade back around 1950, and the teacher had caught him breaking a rule. "Do you have something in your mouth, David?" she demanded to know. It was not lunch time, but mid-morning. "Yes," he answered. "What is it," she asked,"and where did you get it?" "It's barley, and I got it out of my pocket," he answered. "Are you hungry,David?" she asked him, with as much sarcasm as a school teacher could muster. "Yes, Ma"am, there wasn't anything for breakfast," he replied stolidly. "Well, you shouldn't be eating in school, she scolded him. And that was the end of it, and that's the way it was in the good old '50's.