I’ve been reading a lot lately, not serious stuff, novels mostly, similar to what I did during my boyhood days. I liked animal stories then and later on got into reading the Hardy Boys mysterys and Nancy Drew novels too. Those were the days before sequels became the rage.

I was in grade seven when I read the Hardy Boys. What a year that was! I had Ted Girgly as a home room teacher. He also taught me English, Math, Band, Choir, and Library. At least Library was one subject I couldn’t fail.

All my siblings that went before me in school did well so when I went to school I had a lot to live up to which is an attitude I didn’t know I had to combat.
Our teachers all lived through the strife of the Second World War so they had preformed opinions which were developed through the war years. One opinion was that authority was not questioned and two, you did as you were told.

Of course doing what you were told means that you have to understand the instructions to complete the task successfully. Understanding instructions gave me great difficulty, so I drove Ted nuts, but the feeling was mutual.

Ted would use humiliation as a motivational tool, but it didn’t work with me. All I gained from that behavior was resentment.
On the other hand, when Wally was a boy he would accept the challenge and show that he could excel at the task. Just because he had a gimpy leg didn’t mean he couldn’t do the job as well if not better.

One subject I did well in was Band. I was able to complete my assigned tasks and avoid humiliation. Choir was okay too.

At the end of the year I did the unheard of and failed grade seven, but it wasn’t something that bothered me, I just moved on.