School Yard Buddies

The start of a school year should be an exciting time for a child. It should be, but often times it isn’t. It has been so long now, that I don’t recall my first day of  school, and/or whether or not

I was excited about it. However, I can remember certain place setting events that happened all throughout my primary education.

School began for me in 1967. For a long time in my life I could remember my first grade teacher’s name. However, as time has moved on, I can not remember her name. I do recall a few events though and one of those events was a spanking, by the teacher in the principle’s office, for talking too much during class; when I should be doing my school work instead.

Honestly she tried everything, even though I did not mean to disrespect her, it’s just that God gifted me with the gift of gab and visiting with people, is one of the core aspects of being me. One thing she tried was rearranging the children in her classroom, by boy-girl seating arrangements. It’s funny that I can remember why she did it. Apparently she thought I would not be so apt to visit with a boy, as a girl, but alas she was wrong. I didn’t see a boy any different than I did a girl.

I remember the boy sitting in front of me, with vibrant curly red hair, his name was Kelly (I know last names, just opting not to publish those) and the boy behind me, with light blond hair, his name was Robert. (oddly enough the first of a few to come into my life by that name-one of which I married) In being the friendly person that I am, I’d find myself turned around in my seat, just chatting away with Robert about anything and what not, or tapping Kelly on the shoulder to get him turned around to chat, because it was a fun thing to do.

There are two events that I can recall as my first grade experiences. One was the spanking, at which time afterwards I told both Kelly and Robert, that it had not hurt. Whether that was true, I do not know. It must have left some kind of impact on me, as I was never in a principle’s office again after that, throughout all of my school years.

The second event that I recall was my first kiss. Robert, he kissed my cheek. I remember thinking he likes me, only to learn that Kelly had put him up to it on a dare.

Dares were common then, maybe still now, I’m not sure, but if you do not know what a dare is, it is when you put someone up to something, that they would not ordinarily do, as a joke. You tell the person I dare you and if they decline the first dare, you say, I double dog dare you.

How’d I feel about it, you may be thinking? It was dismissed as one of life’s experiences and never did it detour me from doing that which I like best to do, visit with every one regardless, but with one exception.

There are just some people, though, one learns they can not visit with, chat with and be nice to, no matter what and a person has to chalk it up to, a conflict in personalities. However at grade school age, one just knows it is something they must endure, every school day.

I was in fourth grade, that one such person came into my life. Her name was Angela, a tall and slender girl. One thing she liked to do was that if at anytime she crossed me on the classroom sidewalks, she’d knock my school books out of my hands, which of course in turn would cause me to have to pick them up and she would walk on, laughing all the while.

She returned to the same school in fifth and sixth grade, too. But it was in sixth grade that a girl that had observed Angela picking on me; she didn’t like it and put a stop to it. Her name was Lu; a rather robust girl for her age being that of sixth grade.

We had been released for the playground recess activities and as all the kids piled out to run for the playground, there was Angela hot on my heals to do God knows what. I say that because I don’t really recall all the nit picky things she would do, only that of knocking the books from my hands. I remember standing in the middle of a circle with other girls around me and Angela, too, and there was Lu.

I am small and petite for my age, and many adults would mistake me for being a first grader, even though I was in sixth grade. I’m telling you that so this makes since in what Lu told Angela. She said, ‘if she wanted to pick on some one, try picking on some one that was more her size, like me.’ She also told her, ‘I am tired of watching you pick on that girl’ and to stop it.

How’d I feel about that? I was grateful, because what Lu told Angela did put a stop to the forever, invading, always obtrusive activities Angela had where as I was concerned. I also, thought I had a new best friend. But alas, I was wrong.

Whenever we were given a free time in class to just hang out and talk, I would venture over to where Lu was with her friends. After a few times of doing that and being ignored, it was understood, she was not my friend. She saw some thing that was being done; that was wrong and she knew she was strong enough, where I wasn’t, to put a stop to it. That’s all.

I wish I could say that was the last time that happened, but it wasn’t. There were a couple of more classmates, that I came across, that were just nasty to me as Angela. One was a boy named Gary, (last name not remembered) who I met in sixth grade that followed me all the way into junior high and he also lived up the road from me.

And another girl in ninth grade, that the challenge turned into a physical altercation after school; one in which I lost. Her name I do not remember, but that she was a tall blonde, medium build for a ninth grader. I did tell my best friend about the incident several days afterwards when we were hanging out at her house playing pool in her garage.

She told me she wished that I had told her what was going on at the time; she would have been there with me and she would have knock that girl out. Not only did I believe her, but I believed she could have done just that.

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