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Salient. An Organ of Student Opinion at Victoria College, Wellington, N.Z. Vol 1, No. 1. March 9, 1938

Digs—

Digs

We met in the Hot Dog. He was devouring, with the appetite of a half-starved animal, one of Angela's large grills. The rough edge of his collar had made a red mark on his neck, and his shirt had the off-white appearance in vogue with the big laundries. His discolored eyes and unhealthy complexion were those of one hopeless and depraved. [unclear: w] something about him showed he had once been a man of culture and refinement. "A regret fully frequent type." I reflected. The face was familiar. I was looking into a mirror.

Boarding in Wellington is hard enough for one on a good wage, but for a Training College student like my vis-a-vis it is gruesome. Years of stuffy "singles" and squalid "shares" had done their work, and had broken what had once been a gloriously independent spirit. I thought of the hundreds like him. and of their hideous hunted lives; of the pathetic shitting from place to place in the hope of retaining some last shred of decency; of the waning of that hope, and of the final state, the nadir of degradation, when one settles down at last to a boarder's lot the chief characteristics of which are:—
(1)Absolute subservience to the arrogance of landladies. One must crawl to live. Hoarders nowadays are a race of crawlers, despicable outcasts who will descend to any depth of flattery and senility for "that second piece of pie." The old hands never grumble: their cynical motto is "What do you expect for thirty bob a week?"
(2)Putting a penny in the gas-meter for a shave, or three pence for a bath.
(3)Frequent grill-room meals. They ruin the digestion, but at least assuage the pangs of want. Boarders are always hungry. Invite one to have a cup of tea with you, and observe his dog-like gratitude.
(4)Ruined linen, caused by careless washing in a cheap laundry. A week's washing at a good laundry costs 4/6.
(5)Gradually less frequent changing of "digs," as pride fizzles out and one realises no change is for the better and that complaint is worse than useless.
(6)Tendency not to sing. Occasionally one croons a nostalgic lament, but nothing exuberant is heard. Singing is Noise.

I could write much more about "digs," but It would be sordid and bitter stuff. I have at least conveyed on Impression Of the type of person forming a large proportion of students at V.U.C. and Training College.

Are these shattered, cynical spirits the people to teach the new generation? If not, what is to be done?

—H.W.G.