Every year about this time I get a little nostalgic about my high school days. The leaves start to change the nights are a little cooler shadows longer -it's autumn. So naturally I think back to those yesterdays of youth and my schooling. My parents decided to send us kids to college prep school. I was the first being the oldest. Our public school system although I'm sure was fine was very crowded with all us baby boomers. In fact so crowded that they had to go to half day sessions for all the students. So my parents made the big sacrifice in terms of money to send us to private Catholic prep schools.
In order to get in to these schools you had to take an entrance test in eighth grade. Well wouldn't you know the day of the test I came down with the flu. 103 temperature and all the aches and pains. Plus the nuns explained we had to list 3 schools we wanted the scores to be sent to. I only had 2. But you must have 3 they said. So I picked the first school from the list to make my third choice. I had no idea where that school was but I had 3 listed so the nuns were happy. The first school I chose was too crowded the next would only take you if you played a musical instrument or sports so that left the third. Of course I was selected there. We figured out where it was and I showed up for class for my first day. By the way it was all boys and you had to wear a sport coat and tie every day. Oh joy.
Well things went smoothly for the morning until it was lunch time. We were told to stand in the hallway outside the cafeteria. No sooner had we arrived but down the hall strode a middle aged Jesuit priest with a bullwhip in his hand. A real one not some imitation one from a dude ranch. And boy did he know how to use it. Craaack! "Get in line against the wall-now!" he shouted. There wasn't a word spoken as we slammed our bodies up against the wall. What kind of school is this I'm sure we all thought. I'm sure just the impression he had sought to give us 14 year old boys.
There wasn't a day that went by that we didn't see him walking down the hall bullwhip in hand. The school disciplinarian cracking the whip. Only later did we find out that it was just for the Freshmen class this show of authority. So we wouldn't get off on the wrong foot as far as who was the boss around there. Remember all boys -no girls- things got rough once in a while especially by senior year. But that's another story. Until then --RAWHIDE--
Stay tuned.
