Chapter 1: Section 1: Page 9: Line 89

 "Here it is in a nutshell," Randolph confided later.

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Lindsay, in creating an analogy to remind Chick to follow the rules, gave a long-winded answer to why Chick was so cold when in the air, and maybe Randolph thinks Lindsay used words Chick wouldn't have understood so Randolph decides to break it down in a clearer, shorter, and more common way. You can't assume the boy you picked up in the swamp being chased by members of the KKK after his father rooked the local populace and fled to be well educated.

Randolph shows his wisdom as leader, as well, by taking Chick aside later where they can speak alone so as not to expose Chick's ignorance in front of the others, and to save him some embarrassment.

Chapter 1: Section 1: Page 9: Lines 86-88

 "Do not imagine," Lindsay instructed, "that in coming aboard Inconvenience you have escaped into any realm of the counterfactual. There may not be mangrove swamps or lynch law up here, but we must nonetheless live with the constraints of the given world, notable among them the decrease in temperature with altitude. Eventually your sensitivities in that regard should moderate, and in the meantime"—tossing him a foul-weather cloak of black Japanese goatskin with C. OF C. PROPERTY stenciled in bright yellow on the back—"this is to be considered as a transitional garment only, until such time as you adapt to these altitudes and, if fortunate, learn the lessons of unpremeditated habitude among them."

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In other words, this isn't The Twilight Zone, bub. Things may seem fantastic or supranormal flying up in the sky but it's still the same world as that which occurs below and in the rest of the book. This may be a warning not just to Chick but to the reader. Pynchon is noting that while things are definitely different than the world of the reader, they aren't different in a fantastical, higgledy-piggledy way. Yes, there were almost certainly not battalions of young boys flying airships about the world having adventures. But at least they're not riding dragons! And while some of their adventures might push the boundaries of what we know as fact, they retain their believability of the 1893 world and the lower limits of the knowledge and the upper limits of the imagination of the people of the time.

Also, Lindsay might just be making small talk about his favorite thing in the world: rules. "Don't get it into your head that we're up here to engage in raw hedonism above the clouds, ignoring the basic and decent societal laws of mankind! We follow rules too!"

Or maybe Lindsay just figures Chick is an idiot. "Natural law same, you understand. Same-same down below as up above. Different but same!"

Lindsay is a jerk.

Whoops! That was what I had to say on just Line 86 before I remembered that I'm grouping all lines which appear in the same quotations as one blog entry! So let's dive into the rest of Lindsay's rant!

It seems like Lindsay is just using the temperatures decrease with altitude constraint of the world as a metaphor for all the other rules Lindsay expects Chick to learn to habitude among. The Japanese coat (does the C. OF C. PROPERTY label the coat or the boy in the coat?) is an example of Chick's provisional status among the boys. They will allow some leeway for Chick's ignorance of the rules, as the coat gives him some leeway to remain comfortable in large temperature shifts, but he must, at some point, be able to perform his duties sans jacket and sans managerial oversight.

Plus he might just be informing Chick about how cold it gets. Although does it make much sense to indicate that the Chums of Chance should do their duty in the sky without jackets to protect from the cold? That's why it must be a metaphor! I'm sure the lads wear jackets all the time, as needed!

Chapter 1: Section 1: Page 9: Line 85

 When confronted by Lindsay Noseworth, the lad in his defense could only chatter, "C-c-cold!"

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The subtext here is that Lindsay Noseworth definitely thought Chick was stealing because Chick is a poor vagabond child who can't be trusted as far as the KKK could throw him. Lindsay "confronted" Chick for "unauthorizedly" "rummaging" for a jacket. I suppose Lindsay's suspicions weren't totally inaccurate seeing as how earlier in the story, Chick considered taking and pawning the silverware. So even though I despise narcs and hall monitors and uncharitable bastards, I can't totally fault Lindsay for keeping an eye on the new kid.

Although what did Lindsay think was Chick's plan? Steal all the arctic gear and bail over the side to escape?!

Chapter 1: Section 1: Pages 8-9: Line 84

 The first few times aloft, he did his duty without complaint but one day was discovered unauthorizedly rummaging through a locker containing various items of arctic gear.

* * * * * * * * * *

Weird to think Chick did his duty without complaint. I guess Pynchon didn't say "did his duty without insulting the rest of the crew" which is a different thing altogether. He probably also felt grateful, in his way, to have been rescued from his vagabond, fatherless life in KKK territory. He was probably afraid of being abandoned again if he didn't just suck it up and do his duty.

The term "unauthorizedly" is a definite flag that Lindsay Noseworth was the one who discovered him. Who else would give a damn that one of the kids was just trying to stay warm?! Especially the new kid who maybe didn't know he had to fill out a bunch of requisition forms just to get a damned jacket.

Chapter 1: Section 1: Page 8: Line 83

 Like most "rookies" in the organization, Chick had found his initial difficulties to lie not so much with velocity as with altitude, and the changes in air-pressure and temperature that went along with it.

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Why is the word "rookies" in quotes in the previous line? My supposition, knowing that Pynchon is the author, is that the word must be fairly new to the time and the quotation marks suggest it's some newfangled slang. Looking up its etymology, I see it's a late 19th century word stemming from recruit and rook (I mean, obviously rook more than recruit but who am I to suggest that for certain? Susie Dent?). The interesting thing is that "rook" means to cheat or swindle. So what kind of attitude is that? Expecting the new guy to be a cheater and a swindler?! Oh wait! I get it! The "rookie" is the guy being swindled! So the new rookie recruit would be a guy who got suckered into joining the military like a big dumb dumby!

Rudyard Kipling was first credited with using it in Barrack-room Ballads from 1892. That wouldn't mean it's brand new but it's gotta be close to brand new if it first sees print in 1892. Unless he made it up, which I doubt. Also, I should now be hung from the side of the Inconvenience by Lindsay for using the word "gotta."

My Children's Lit professor at San Jose State would have emphasized the words Pynchon used in this sentence that sound like they're describing Chick: "lie," "pressure," and "altitude" which suggests "attitude" if you're terrible at reading and/or poetical by nature.

Imagine being a terrestrial kid who has lived their whole life on the ground in the 19th century. And now imagine being in this fanciful airship for the first time. You're moving faster than you've ever moved before. You're higher than you've ever been before. You're miraculously flying which, until then, you've only known angels, aliens, and ghosts to have done. And maybe birds and bugs but that's edging into too erotic a territory for me! Now you're also learning that as you go higher, your head feels weird and your ears hurt and suddenly you're cold. And you're moving faster so your stomach is queasy and you've got an exciting feeling down in your bowels (the good bowels not the gross bowels!). That's a lot to deal with!

Anyway, it's not surprising that Chick doesn't have a problem with velocity. He's a cool cat who would probably be wearing a leather jacket and riding fast motorcycles if he had been born in the 60s.

Chapter 1: Section 1: Page 8: Line 82

 "Crackerjack!" exclaimed Chick.

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There was a time when people used expressions that they don't use anymore and it's a shame. I think it's because we realized that every unique word could just be replaced by its boring and mundane equivalent with "fucking" tacked on the front. So instead of feeling "Crackerjack!", today Chick would, as Tony the Tiger says, feel "fucking great!"

Chapter 1: Section 1: Page 8: Line 81

 "Feeling all right, Counterfly?"

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"Feeling all right means there's nothing left" seems like something your Great Uncle might say at a family reunion after which he'd wander off leaving you to wonder if he had finished the thought before heading back to get more potato salad.

I guess this means Randolph cares about his crew and he's checking up on them? Also maybe this indicates that he noticed Chick enjoying himself, so it's a bit sarcastic. "Oh, not slinging insults, I see? Are you feeling okay?"

I haven't spent enough time with the characters to know what Randolph St. Cosmo's intonation might be.