Buffer races

From USAFA Folklore

The buffers used to polish wax on linoleum floors could be "ridden" by standing on top of the buffer mechanism and holding onto the handle. Using gyroscopic forces, it was possible to balance on top of the buffer. Occassionally when preparation for a SAMI became too boring, cadets would engage in buffer races in the hallway.

"Buffer rodeos" were similar but confined to seeing how long a cadet could remain standing upright on an operating buffer.

[edit] Buffing

Until 1974, buffing the floors involved the use of automotive paste wax. The can was opened, and a lighter was used to ignite the wax. The wax was allowed to burn until approximately 1/2 of the can of liquid wax was available. The fire was extinguished by putting the lid back on the can. The (extremely hot!!) can was picked up with towels or washclothes as "potholders", and the liquid wax was poured as evenly as possible around the room. The buffer was used first with the standard buffer pad, and then with a folded towel to create an extremely high-gloss shine.

Buffers were in short supply, and First Class Cadets, of course, had "dibs". It was not unusual for a Fourth Class Cadet to not be able to buff their room floors until well after midnight before a SAMI.

In 1974, an unfortunate cadet dropped the hot can of flaming liquid wax, which rolled out into the hallway from his Vandenberg Hall dorm room. The burning wax ignited a section of the wooden wall outside the room. Although this did not create a serious fire, the PTB took it as an ill omen, and the use of "wax" was prohibited. And in the usual demonstration of overkill and lack of common sense, cadets were ordered to strip the wax off of the cadet room floors. This onerous task was, of course, delegated to the Fourth Class Cadets, who literally used razor blades to scrape over 10 years' application of wax off of the floors. A foul-smelling, milky "liquid wax" (of poor shine but terrific tendency to pick up lint, dirt, and general crud) was supplied as the preferred alternative, but most cadets ended up purchasuing "Future"-brand floor wax off campus. The ban on wax was intermittently enforced through the 70s, after which I lost touch with the whole mess. Quatermass '76