# Question about the Wayside School books (unboxed spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2006, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-wayside-school-books-unboxed-spoilers/346356 "2006-02-27T20:01:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cockatiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cockatiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cockatiel)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-wayside-school-books-unboxed-spoilers/346356/1 "2006-02-27T20:01:19Z")
I loved these books when I was younger. Still do. But even though I’ve read _Sideways Stories_, _Wayside School is Falling Down_, and _Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger_ about ten times each, there’s one thing I’ve never understood: Who are those guys in the suits? If you’ve read the books, you’ll know who they are. One of them is bald, another has an attache case, and I think the third has a moustache. They appear in all three books in odd places. Once they even went to the 19th story (!) when Mrs. Zarves was about to quit and convinced her to come back. Are there some hints to who they are that I can’t remember or do they just go unexplained? By the way, I’ve never read _Sideways Math from Wayside School_. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-wayside-school-books-unboxed-spoilers/346356/2 "2006-02-27T20:07:00Z")
Dunno, but I can ask my daughter tonight. She’s the expert. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-wayside-school-books-unboxed-spoilers/346356/3 "2006-02-27T20:28:57Z")
My daughter just discovered these books, and read the first one, which she loves. She hasn’t read the others yet, but I’ll ask her. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-wayside-school-books-unboxed-spoilers/346356/4 "2006-02-28T01:02:06Z")
I was also a big fan when I was younger, but now I barely remember them. I suspect that the men are related somehow to the 19th story, but that’s about all I could tell you. Don’t try too hard to make sense out of the stories, because then you end up with some really silly questions, like, “If they turned the floorplan sideways, why did they build stairs?” ---
**Author:** ![Palooka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/palooka/32/2902_2.png) [@Palooka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Palooka)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-wayside-school-books-unboxed-spoilers/346356/5 "2006-02-28T01:07:13Z")
They’re g-men from the schoolboard. Like all g-men, they’re motives are beyond the comprehension of us mortals (mostly due to all the paperwork involved). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-the-wayside-school-books-unboxed-spoilers/346356/6 "2006-02-28T01:40:03Z")
MilliCal is writing this: I have read Sideways Stories from Wayside School, I liked it, especialy chapter nine,Muarica. 🙂 Also on another chapter, called Calvin, Mrs.Jewls tells him to bring a notice down to Mrs.Zarves,on the nineteenth story, of course. Calvin can not do this because there is no nineteenth story and no Mrs.Zarves, he would just go down to the nineteenth story go down one more flight of stairs and be on the eighteenth story. 😕