During my last year at...
...Fenton High School, they decided to take off the back wall for some construction. I spent most of my senior year running back and forth to my locker to grab my coat before heading to that hall. I don't know why they made us suffer like that. Today some parent would call the news and you'd read about all the poor students in the school who had to freeze their backsides off during a miserable Chicago winter. But in 1976, it was considered quite OK the freeze us out. Then again, our parents were allowed to hit us too.
Unfortunately, we grew up the last generation to be spanked and the first generation that couldn't smack our own little darlings. It hardly seems fair. But somehow, I've managed to go on.
My senior year was actually quite fun. Especially Chemistry with Walkwitz. I was the only chick in that class and Hess and Fess messed me up. They kept me laughing too much to pass that class. But I did learn that Hess liked to party in "Calumet Citeeee!" I never went with him, and to tell you the truth, I don't really know if he ever went there. I think that maybe he might just liked to say "Calumet Citeeee!" Luckily I left those two behind and now I have 2 degrees in science. Go figure.
I'm sort of stuck down in Georgia (Please, if you can, come get me and I'll never ever leave home again.) and what should I find out? Hess is too. Of all the people that I went to Fenton with for 4 years, imagine it being the partying "Calumet Citeeee!" dude who lives a few miles from me!
Donna Richardson was teaching some rather radical concepts back then. I don't think we cared so much as to go tell our parents about the sex that she injected into the curriculum. Once again, Fenton dodged a potential media frenzy for teaching such new ideas as legalized abortion and actual sexual technique. Luckily for her, she didn't mention gay people. Nobody cared back then. But if she had, I'm sure that would have upset our parents who are all in their 70's and 80's now. The Greatest Generation wouldn't have taken kindly to the gay discussion.
I did have one helluva gay teacher and Speech Team coach who was in the top 2 beat teachers that I ever ran across in all my years of sitting in desks. He was rather gay. (That's my way of saying that he was, at school anyway, a rather conservative flaming gay guy.) But that man made learning so much fun that I always, always enjoyed his class or the speech team practices. In my try-out for the team, I told the lamest of jokes and F.T. loved it. It was stupid and childish but I think that's what made ME like it at the time:
A man is released from prison after 20 years. He's running out the door shouting, "I'm FREE! I'm FREE!"
Well, right then a little boy was riding his tricycle and as he rode past the man, he shouted out, "Oh yeah? Well, I'm FOUR!"
That's it. You should have seen that man laugh after I told that dumb joke. What a sport he was.
Sticking with my vow never to date the guys from Fenton because of the taunting that I received in 8th grade, I dated a guy who lived in Elk Grove but was away at Western. But there were 2 cute guys in Soc class that I would have jumped on if the circumstances were right. But, I remained true to my college man and did a lot of babysitting that year. He did come back for special occasions so I did get to the prom. At this point I must thank Mike Simo for not hitting me on the head with a broom at the prom.
Those eighth grade guy bullies were nowhere near as bad as the chick bullies. Those girls were vicious little suckers. I avoided Lori Simec for a year over something Darice Netrefa told her that I said, I don't remember what. I couldn't have said anything, I had no idea who Lori Simec was until she confronted me for the first time. An aside, I ran into Darice at a Bingo game years later, what a lovely young mother she was at the time! I have no clue what happened to Lori Simec.
But somehow I managed to graduate, part of the first class to ever graduate in the new field house. I don't think it's very new now...but when the back wall of the school was gone, it was brand spanking new. And then, ten years later, we had the reunion. For some stupid reason I stuck a small bottle of rum in my purse and drank most of it that night. I am SOOOOOO sorry that I did that. First of all, I acted like an idiot to a very nice man who just wanted to ask me a question and then, my nit wit ex husband let me try to drive. I was parked on a circular drive with cars in front of me and behind me. I hit them both, at least once. And then I noticed the class members who were all still standing around the entrance. They were all staring at me, jaws dropped. I will NEVER get that picture out of my mind. It was awful. It kept me from going back to any reunions after that.
But, now I think I'm ready to face another reunion. So, is anyone thinking of something to do for The Class of '76 and the 35th reunion that's coming up? Who does that kind of stuff? I'm sure it's some woman who was on the yearbook committee or something like that. Or maybe one of those girls who worked in the office. I worked in the office briefly but about all I accomplished was the interception of any and all cut slips that were going home to my friends and their parents.
Anyway, what's up with that reunion?
...Fenton High School, they decided to take off the back wall for some construction. I spent most of my senior year running back and forth to my locker to grab my coat before heading to that hall. I don't know why they made us suffer like that. Today some parent would call the news and you'd read about all the poor students in the school who had to freeze their backsides off during a miserable Chicago winter. But in 1976, it was considered quite OK the freeze us out. Then again, our parents were allowed to hit us too.
Unfortunately, we grew up the last generation to be spanked and the first generation that couldn't smack our own little darlings. It hardly seems fair. But somehow, I've managed to go on.
My senior year was actually quite fun. Especially Chemistry with Walkwitz. I was the only chick in that class and Hess and Fess messed me up. They kept me laughing too much to pass that class. But I did learn that Hess liked to party in "Calumet Citeeee!" I never went with him, and to tell you the truth, I don't really know if he ever went there. I think that maybe he might just liked to say "Calumet Citeeee!" Luckily I left those two behind and now I have 2 degrees in science. Go figure.
I'm sort of stuck down in Georgia (Please, if you can, come get me and I'll never ever leave home again.) and what should I find out? Hess is too. Of all the people that I went to Fenton with for 4 years, imagine it being the partying "Calumet Citeeee!" dude who lives a few miles from me!
Donna Richardson was teaching some rather radical concepts back then. I don't think we cared so much as to go tell our parents about the sex that she injected into the curriculum. Once again, Fenton dodged a potential media frenzy for teaching such new ideas as legalized abortion and actual sexual technique. Luckily for her, she didn't mention gay people. Nobody cared back then. But if she had, I'm sure that would have upset our parents who are all in their 70's and 80's now. The Greatest Generation wouldn't have taken kindly to the gay discussion.
I did have one helluva gay teacher and Speech Team coach who was in the top 2 beat teachers that I ever ran across in all my years of sitting in desks. He was rather gay. (That's my way of saying that he was, at school anyway, a rather conservative flaming gay guy.) But that man made learning so much fun that I always, always enjoyed his class or the speech team practices. In my try-out for the team, I told the lamest of jokes and F.T. loved it. It was stupid and childish but I think that's what made ME like it at the time:
A man is released from prison after 20 years. He's running out the door shouting, "I'm FREE! I'm FREE!"
Well, right then a little boy was riding his tricycle and as he rode past the man, he shouted out, "Oh yeah? Well, I'm FOUR!"
That's it. You should have seen that man laugh after I told that dumb joke. What a sport he was.
Sticking with my vow never to date the guys from Fenton because of the taunting that I received in 8th grade, I dated a guy who lived in Elk Grove but was away at Western. But there were 2 cute guys in Soc class that I would have jumped on if the circumstances were right. But, I remained true to my college man and did a lot of babysitting that year. He did come back for special occasions so I did get to the prom. At this point I must thank Mike Simo for not hitting me on the head with a broom at the prom.
Those eighth grade guy bullies were nowhere near as bad as the chick bullies. Those girls were vicious little suckers. I avoided Lori Simec for a year over something Darice Netrefa told her that I said, I don't remember what. I couldn't have said anything, I had no idea who Lori Simec was until she confronted me for the first time. An aside, I ran into Darice at a Bingo game years later, what a lovely young mother she was at the time! I have no clue what happened to Lori Simec.
But somehow I managed to graduate, part of the first class to ever graduate in the new field house. I don't think it's very new now...but when the back wall of the school was gone, it was brand spanking new. And then, ten years later, we had the reunion. For some stupid reason I stuck a small bottle of rum in my purse and drank most of it that night. I am SOOOOOO sorry that I did that. First of all, I acted like an idiot to a very nice man who just wanted to ask me a question and then, my nit wit ex husband let me try to drive. I was parked on a circular drive with cars in front of me and behind me. I hit them both, at least once. And then I noticed the class members who were all still standing around the entrance. They were all staring at me, jaws dropped. I will NEVER get that picture out of my mind. It was awful. It kept me from going back to any reunions after that.
But, now I think I'm ready to face another reunion. So, is anyone thinking of something to do for The Class of '76 and the 35th reunion that's coming up? Who does that kind of stuff? I'm sure it's some woman who was on the yearbook committee or something like that. Or maybe one of those girls who worked in the office. I worked in the office briefly but about all I accomplished was the interception of any and all cut slips that were going home to my friends and their parents.
Anyway, what's up with that reunion?
posted by Meg Kelso | 6:03 AM
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