Once worked with a former 'bo

I worked alongside a guy in the late 80s and early 90s at a newspaper. He was the oldest guy in our unit and didn't say much about his past. But the week before he retired, he loosened up and talked about how he'd dropped out of high school in 1935 and spent about two years riding the rails in the Midwest and Far West. He picked up some seasonal farm work and some factory work and sometimes sent money home to his mother. He thought the best thing about "tramping" as he called it, was being your own boss and pulling up stakes when you wanted. The worst thing was being unable to keep up your hygiene and wearing the same clothes and shoes for weeks at a time. In his old age, he was very meticulous about getting haircuts, brushing and flossing his teeth and keeping his shoes shined.
On the rails, when he broke a coupla fingers he decided to go home and finish high school. By the time he entered CCNY, here comes Pearl Harbor...

"May I bone your kipper, Mademoiselle?"