When I was a kid in Australia, I read about this American courting custom of a bloke carrying a girl’s books for her. It seemed to really mean something. A girl wouldn’t just let any bloke carry her books. Once a bloke started carrying a girl’s books for her, that basically meant they were going steady.
We didn’t have the expression “going steady” in Australia and we didn’t ask girls to carry their books. We weren’t as formal as the Yanks. Our ardor was more restrained. We’d say things like, “You want to get pissed?” or “You don’t look half bad today, Sheila” or “Fancy some chips?” or “Going to the beach later?”
I’m 56 now. I don’t think I ever carried a girl’s books for her.
Must get around to fixing that one of these days. If there’s nothing good on the tele.
