CDW: DIDN'T THE CLERKS WEAR UNIFORMS BACK THEN?
MB: CLERKS AND SECRETARIES.
CDW: THE SAME BASIC UNIFORM AS A TROOPER WEARS--EXCEPT THEY WORE
SKIRTS?
MB: OH, YES. I USED TO GO TO TALLAHASSEE EVERYTIME THEY HAD A
CLERK'S SCHOOL AND TEACH A CLASS ON HOW TO WEAR THE UNIFORM
BECAUSE OF MY MILITARY BACKGROUND. I REMEMBER ONE TIME I WENT
UP THERE AND I WALKED IN THE COLONEL'S OFFICE AND HE TURNED
AROUND AND SHOOK HIS FINGER AT ME AND HE SAID, "YOU GO OUT
THERE AND TELL THOSE WOMEN HOW TO WEAR THOSE UNIFORMS. I DON'T
WANT TO SEE THEIR GIRDLES WHEN THEY SIT DOWN." MAJOR CARL R.
ADAMS WAS MORE OR LESS IN CHARGE OF THEIR CLERK SCHOOLS AND
BEFORE I GOT THERE, HE TOLD ALL THE GALS THE DAY BEFORE WHAT AN
OGRE I WAS AND HOW MEAN I WAS AND THEY STAYED UP UNTIL 1 OR 2
AM IN THE MORNING LENGTHENING THEIR SKIRTS AND CHANGING THEIR
HAIRDOS BECAUSE HE TOLD THEM THAT I WOULD EAT THEM ALIVE. HE
TOLD ME WHAT HE HAD TOLD THEM AND I WAS AMUSED. THERE WASN'T A
ONE OF THOSE GIRLS--NO, I TAKE THAT BACK--THERE WAS ONE GIRL
THAT STILL HAD A SORT OF BEEHIVE HAIRDRESS AND HER HAIR SAT UP
HERE ABOUT 5" ABOVE HER HEAD, BUT EVERYONE ELSE HAD THEIR
SKIRTS THE RIGHT LENGTH AND HAD THEIR HAIR DONE SO THEY COULD
WEAR THE HAT PROPERLY.
CDW: WHAT'S THE BIGGEST CHANGE THAT YOU'VE SEEN IN THE PATROL?
MB: OH, MY. WELL, I GUESS THE BIGGEST CHANGE CAME WHEN THE
DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION TOOK OVER A LOT OF THE THINGS THE
PATROL HAD DONE, AND I GUESS EVEN BEFORE THAT WHEN THEY CHANGED
IT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF HIGHWAY SAFETY AND MOTOR VEHICLES--THAT
MADE A LARGE DIFFERENCE. BUT WHEN THE DEPARTMENT OF
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