Reports and going to war......

  If he was to do anything with his life he needed some support! However reflecting on some of the comments he had received over the years he was not sure from where that support would be coming.

At primary school he had received a final comment of “...will make the front or back pages of the Newspapers.” Now, you can look at these comments in two ways either, he was to be famous or notorious, and he liked to think, even at this age, he was a little bit of both! These reputation-al comments were to follow him throughout his educational experience; at his preparatory Boarding school he was to receive the type of encouragement that has made this nation such good losers, “…he seems to believe that Sport is all that matters; we do not share his view.” No wonder we have been so good at coming second for so long with this attitude, surely if someone shows aptitude in anything they should be encouraged not put down?

Things did not improve at secondary school with comments ranging from the derogatory, “guttersnipe” to the faintly encouraging, “thick but decent!” both of which may have had an element of truth, but were hardly the comments to give as a reference or build a career on!!  Although by College things had improved somewhat and he felt that maybe things were looking up he was to be brought down again by the farewell comment of one of his tutors, “You know, you would have got on better if you had cooperated more” a comment that left him with the feeling that, yet again, he had disappointed others without being aware of it himself. But this was still in the future and, for the moment, he had other things to concern him.

One of these was the Combined Cadet Force or CCF that he, along with every other boy, enjoyed or endured, depending on your view, every Thursday afternoon. From the start he knew it was not for him; to begin with he was not into dressing up, then there was the mundane drills, the pointless exercises and, worst of all, those who enjoyed it and gave him orders; something he had always had difficulty with. It seemed to him that if you were academic and spotty you did well in the CCF and if you were sporty and normal you did not! There were to be frequent run-ins with authority in the form of spotty bespectacled nerds who, for the rest of the week were insignificants, but who, for these few hours, thought they had the power to get one over on the “normals”. He was determined not to give in to them even if it meant, and it often did, running around the play/parade ground with a rifle above his head swearing to himself that he would seek revenge. Unfortunately there were staff who also partook in this charade and, with one exception, they too were the academic/spotty type who had little authority in the classroom and like the pupil officers, tried to find authority via a third party, the armed forces.

In this gloom there was the odd shaft of light; each year there was an annual inspection when the school paraded for some visiting minor dignitaries who had a spurious association with the Military. However, one of these was a father of a friend and he used to brighten up the day with a wink and a friendly smile!  Also, the University students across the road used to come out, awakened no doubt by the Band, to watch and join in with dustbin lids and other non-military noises to try and drown the noise!  The other enjoyable time was when he went up to Queensferry in Scotland with the naval section, a section he had joined as it had a reputation for being less strict, for the annual camp. It was different in so much as you were under the jurisdiction of real service personnel and treated as young adults rather than an extension of the person you were at school. One occasion summed up his attitude to the CCF and showed his priorities; he and another lad Ray, went into the local area during free time and found a café with a jukebox and some local girls. A good time was had by all and when it came time to return to barracks they stayed on listening to such classics as Speedy Gonzales rather than meet the curfew! However, the time came when they had to return and, knowing they were in trouble, they concocted a story on the way back that they had been set on by local yobs and, to add authenticity to their account, they scraped their knuckles on the road and ruffed themselves up a bit! On arrival they gave their account of the trouble they had encountered and how they had had to fight their way out and, whilst you could tell the Regulars were somewhat sceptical, the schoolmasters bought it; maybe they were just relieved of their return!  So they got away with it and lived off the story for a good while.

But that was to be the end of his military service as soon after the school introduced a get-out policy for disaffected pupils and he was one, if not the first, to opt out and spend his Thursday afternoons in more productive ways…

Reality!

   Maybe it was his upbringing, but why that should be eluded him, maybe it was the time, for this was the 60’s, maybe it was his age, slowly growing through his teenage years or maybe it was just him but he never seemed to bother about loyalty were girls were concerned!

The thing was he had a reputation, quite unjustly like most reputations, but one built on stories, mainly his own, about exploits and conquests; once one has a reputation you tend to live up to it; and so he did. Being an all boy’s school the opportunities for sexual encounters were limited, although there was a healthy undercurrent of activity between boys, mainly confined, but not exclusive to the Boarders. He never actually took part but was tempted by one boy in particular, RH who had gained a reputation as a boyfriend of one or two senior boys and had his attractions! It is funny how quickly we condemn behaviour that is deemed different, yet when in the situation of no other readily available alternative, attitudes and behaviours can soon change. He spent a lot of time in R’s company both in and out of school but nothing happened and as they both grew up they grew apart and went their separate ways; but he was never to condemn nor condone so called abhorrent behaviour again, but rather become less accusatory and more tolerant. However, girls were a different matter as his reputation demanded action!

At parties he found himself attracted to girls that belonged to others or at least were going out with someone either short or in some cases long term; this can easily be explained by the fact that he had a reputation but no girlfriend!

There was one occasion at a party when a friend T, who was a lovely guy and  had a steady girlfriend, was not there or at least late arriving so he took advantage and was snogging and groping away with her and to be fair she wasn’t resisting, if anything she was taking the lead, but her friends were saying, “What’s T going to say?” and “I thought you and T were going out?” etc. all aimed at malicious gossip, it was only his reputation as a bit of a hard nut  and hers as a nice girl that stopped the story getting to T’s ears!  Anyway a good time was had.

He took up with a girl soon after that was a little older and was working and the combination of age, albeit a couple of years and working gave the allusion of experience, and he hoped to gain some of this experience whilst enhancing his reputation! Despite some good times this proved to be an unfounded dream, she was a nice girl and they had fun together but the illusive “experience” was still just a fantasy!

His school life continued apace with little work, lots of sport and some fun; a great combination. He was beginning to have the first stirrings about what he was going to do after school; this had been brought into sharp contrast as he nearly had to leave as his father was made redundant, necessitating a family crisis. He went as far as looking for jobs in Liverpool. He had always liked motorbikes, indeed he had told the lie that he had one, so it was natural that if he couldn’t have one that  he should consider working in a garage to be near them.

His father was a representative for a flooring company that either had gone bust or had lain off staff, whatever for the first time in his experience the family had to consider the way they lived, as money was suddenly not readily available.  His father asked him to cash in his savings to help; this he did readily without understanding the repercussions but it made him realise the seriousness of the situation and he felt he was directly doing something to alleviate the immediate problem.

But danger was averted, as within a month or so his father got a new job, ironically the best he had ever had, and a new prosperity arrived for the family.

Again, he had no worries so why should anything change….?