Page 224
By Jack Joseph Smith
And I was so pleased with myself
I didn't even take the truck
Leavening is hard for a thief
I say not to worry,
I took the door knob off
before Ileft,,
just after putting a differant
PERSON
on
By Jack Joseph Smith
Original Scan
AI Interpretation
The speaker boasts that leaving was so satisfying he did not need to take the truck, then turns the exit into a thief's flourish by removing the doorknob and replacing the expected thing with a different PERSON.
The handwritten PERSON sharpens the joke and makes the theft feel like a substitution of identity rather than only property. The page keeps its comic criminal swagger while letting departure become a strange act of replacement.
A thief's note. Pleased with myself; didn't even take the truck. Leavening (sic — leaving) is hard for a thief. I took the door knob off before I left, just after putting a different one on. The switcheroo as signature.