It's funny how the weather often evokes memories from the distant past. I was looking out the window the other day and the frozen grass opposite took me right back to my school days. The year would have been about 1981-2 and I was at middle school which was for ages 13-16. On joining the new school I didn't do physical eduction lessons (P.E) at first because I'd had surgery beforehand so whilst my class mates were out playing sports I was wandering the school grounds picking litter, in full view of others. Looking back they could have sent me to one of the school libraries but the physical education teachers were akin to Nazi officers, they'd only encourage the stronger fitter lads and if you were skinny, fat, overly tall or like me - short, then you were fair game for humiliation. Fortunately one of the school care takers would take me into the warm boiler room and make me a brew away from wandering the cold school playing fields.
Later I got the all clear to do sports and in truth whilst it was good to feel included I was never a sporty person so was never going to fit in with the P.E teachers. There were two of them, I'd say at the time one was almost 40 and well spoken, the other had a north east coast accent and was probably mid thirties, both were extremely fit and popular with the ladies. They were also very arrogant and liked to make you feel there was definitely a hierarchy amongst males. Reflecting back they did nothing to build self esteem only demolish it, they never liked me but I was not alone as they openly disliked others.
I guess some of it was designed to make you 'man up' which we now use as a popular phrase. I recall playing football on hard frozen ground in the fog, nipples freezing from the cold and feet that felt like blocks of ice and hurt when you kicked the ball. Of course you endured it, it was the male thing to do, I also endured the cross country runs but I never minded those so much because though I wasn't a fast runner I could hold a steady pace so never came last. After that first initial year we got to choose what sports we wanted to do regularly, I opted for badminton and the trampoline because they were both indoors and suited me. A rugby player or football player I was never ever going to be and I had the good sense to realise it early on.
The divide between the boys continued, fit stronger males being encouraged and nurtured, engaged in manly banter whilst the others were the butt of jokes or made to look humiliated come shower time. I hated maths as a subject but I think I hated physical education more.
One day I found a disposable cigarette lighter near the games gym, I lit it and turned to show a friend and was confronted by one of the angry sports teachers. He seized his chance and took me to see the headmaster and made a big deal of it. I explained I'd just found it, lit it and had been discovered, that was all. Of course I was given a stern telling off but I don't recall much else. On going to the next physical eduction class I was told by the teacher who found me with the lighter I wasn't wanted at his class, it was good news really as I was able to go to the library and read books instead.
Nowadays I expect they are both old, more so the one that banned me from his class and I hope that as they lost their vigour in life through age they learned lessons in that you cannot always be gifted with strength or physical prowess. I never really got the worst of them, though others did but after those school years I did play football more and periodically did jogging, I was fleet footed for many years but we all slow down eventually.
Later I got the all clear to do sports and in truth whilst it was good to feel included I was never a sporty person so was never going to fit in with the P.E teachers. There were two of them, I'd say at the time one was almost 40 and well spoken, the other had a north east coast accent and was probably mid thirties, both were extremely fit and popular with the ladies. They were also very arrogant and liked to make you feel there was definitely a hierarchy amongst males. Reflecting back they did nothing to build self esteem only demolish it, they never liked me but I was not alone as they openly disliked others.
I guess some of it was designed to make you 'man up' which we now use as a popular phrase. I recall playing football on hard frozen ground in the fog, nipples freezing from the cold and feet that felt like blocks of ice and hurt when you kicked the ball. Of course you endured it, it was the male thing to do, I also endured the cross country runs but I never minded those so much because though I wasn't a fast runner I could hold a steady pace so never came last. After that first initial year we got to choose what sports we wanted to do regularly, I opted for badminton and the trampoline because they were both indoors and suited me. A rugby player or football player I was never ever going to be and I had the good sense to realise it early on.
The divide between the boys continued, fit stronger males being encouraged and nurtured, engaged in manly banter whilst the others were the butt of jokes or made to look humiliated come shower time. I hated maths as a subject but I think I hated physical education more.
One day I found a disposable cigarette lighter near the games gym, I lit it and turned to show a friend and was confronted by one of the angry sports teachers. He seized his chance and took me to see the headmaster and made a big deal of it. I explained I'd just found it, lit it and had been discovered, that was all. Of course I was given a stern telling off but I don't recall much else. On going to the next physical eduction class I was told by the teacher who found me with the lighter I wasn't wanted at his class, it was good news really as I was able to go to the library and read books instead.
Nowadays I expect they are both old, more so the one that banned me from his class and I hope that as they lost their vigour in life through age they learned lessons in that you cannot always be gifted with strength or physical prowess. I never really got the worst of them, though others did but after those school years I did play football more and periodically did jogging, I was fleet footed for many years but we all slow down eventually.
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