Another boy told me:
"I am now in the third year of my high school course. On the first day of the term I went to school, I made such a miserable thing of myself that I quit. The school superintendent and principal saw me when I came back the second day as I was carrying my books out. Of course they stopped me and I made an explanation. I couldn't tell any of the new teachers my name. It was impossible to make any kind of a recitation. I was introduced to all of my teachers and have been STUMBLING ALONG ever since with grades anywhere from 0 to 60."
A SOCIAL DRAWBACK: No stammerer but knows that his malady marks him for the half-suppressed smiles of thoughtless people and the unkind remarks of those who really know nothing of the suffering which these unkind remarks occasion. It is true, but unfortunate, that the stammerer is not wanted in any social gathering, he can provide no entertainment, save at his own expense, and of all people he is most ill at ease when out among others.
A young lady writes:
"Mr. Bogue, I would give one of my eyes to get rid of stammering. That is all I am after. Please excuse this awful writing. I AM SO NERVOUS I CAN HARDLY GET THE PEN INTO THE INK BOTTLE."
Here is a letter from one man:
"I am 36 years old, and have stammered for 28 years. I don't stammer so bad, but just bad enough to spoil my life. I always have to take a back seat in company. I belong to three lodges, but I do not take part in any of them because I am afraid they will ask me to take part in the order. It would make me feel cheap. I have often felt like committing suicide, but I would pull my nerves together and make the best of it again. I am now a janitor at a school."
HOPELESS IN BUSINESS: There is not a young man stammerer in this whole country who would not work night and day to be cured of stammering if he realized the hopelessness of trying to be a success in a business way, handicapped by stammering, unable to talk fluently, clearly and intelligently.
A man says:
"I am 33 years old and single. I have stammered ever since I was a child. It has made me nervous. At my age it is very embarrassing to me to stutter. I kept getting more nervous from year to year, and finally I have had to give up my position. I was a long-hand biller for ten years, but I am now troubled with writer's cramp and unable to do much. I can't get a clerk's job because of my stuttering."