{"id":20753,"date":"2022-03-31T11:38:10","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T15:38:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=20753"},"modified":"2022-03-31T11:45:59","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T15:45:59","slug":"episode-562-conrad-blonski-a-boy-you-should-have-met-he-would-have-tested-your-humanity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=20753","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 562 CONRAD BLONSKI…a boy you should have met….he would have tested your humanity"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPISODE 562    CONRAD BLONSKI…a boy you should have met….he would have tested your humanity<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
March 31, 2022<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"Penny<\/div>\n
Big Bill Martin parents ran the Sunnyside Penny Arcade.  They were \u2018Carnies\u2019\u2026Carnival people<\/div>\n
like Conrad Blonski.   Bill told me many stories about the fat lady made of wax that melted in the sun each<\/div>\n
year\u2026and was repaired.  Conrad\u2019s mom never had enough profit to go big time\u2026but she managed<\/div>\n
to keep her son Conrad close to her.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
THE CONRAD BLONSKI STORY\u2026TOUCHED ME DEEPLY<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Conrad Blonski.   Why did I think of him today?   The last time I saw him must be 60 years ago, maybe longer.<\/div>\n
He was one of my students at Parkdale Collegiate in Toronto.   Why think of him specially?  Like other teachers<\/div>\n
I taught thousands of young people.  Why was Conrad so memorable?   He was not a top athlete although he<\/div>\n
loved sports\u2026knew every player on the Argonauts or Toronto Maple Leafs.   He was a student, yes, a regular<\/div>\n
student\u2026not the whiz bang destined to become a heart surgeon.  He was memorable because he just loved<\/div>\n
our school.  Loved it with every fibre of his being.  Could Could gnot get enough of the school.  Knew his fellow students<\/div>\n
well and admired some of them who were outstanding athletes.  Why remember Conrad on this bright sunny<\/div>\n
morning at the end of March?<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I suppose one reason is that he attached to me like a bandaid.  He wanted to be an athlete but just could not<\/div>\n
do so.  So I appointed him as manager of our Junior Football team.  He loved the job.  Kept a close eye<\/div>\n
on every player.  And he had a way of winning their attention.  I am sure any student reading this story<\/div>\n
will remember Conrad.  He was an enthusiast.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
What was his life really like?  He must have a pair of doting parents who infused optimism into him.<\/div>\n
Not so.  Conrad only had his mother.  And she was having a tough life indeed. She was a \u2018carnie\u2019,,,<\/div>\n
a Carnival person.   In those days Parkdale had many Carnival people\u2019s children.  Big Bill Martin for one.<\/div>\n
Bill was a fellow teacher and friend from university days when we played football together.<\/div>\n
His parents ran the penny arcade at old Sunnyside.  \u201cWe had a big fat fake lady in a glass booth<\/div>\n
who greeted and lured Carnival goers into our arcade.  She was made of wax and sat in a west facing<\/div>\n
booth.  The wax melted a bit each year and we patched her.  She became quite grotesque.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I noticed Conrad was very chummy with Big Bill.  How come? \u201cCarnival people stick together.\u201d<\/div>\n
Then I asked Conrad about the Carnival business.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"WATCH<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\"Carnival\"161<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat do your parents do?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cOnly my mom and me.\u201d<\/div>\n
(Single parent family\u2026lots of those at Parkdale.)<\/div>\n
\u201cMr. Martin says you are Carnival people\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWe are\u2026mom has a popgun booth.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cPopgun booth?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cLittle canvas booth where people fire corks  a cigarette packs.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cPopguns?  Corks?  Must be inaccurate.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cThey are but some people do knock off packs.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhat are the prizes?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cCigarette packs\u2026knock off a pack, win that pack.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Conrad and his mom would travel from country fair to country fair in the fall<\/div>\n
seasons.   One day I met them by accident at the Acton Fall Fair.  Sure<\/div>\n
enough the guns were out and the cigarette packs lined up.  We talked a<\/div>\n
bit.  His mom loved Conrad.  I sensed their lives were tough\u2026catch as catch can.<\/div>\n
How could they afford hotels when on the road?<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cWhere do you sleep Conrad?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cRight here\u2026on the floor.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
That response knocked me for a loop.  Made me understand a lot more about<\/div>\n
Conrad.  He loved Parkdale Collegiate because it was the biggest thing in<\/div>\n
a very tough life.  I got to know him better.   He didn\u2019t suck around\u2026not under<\/div>\n
my armpits as they say.  But he was never far away.   Marjorie and I had<\/div>\n
him out for supper one evening.  Conrad could not stop talking. He was so<\/div>\n
excited.  For Marjorie and I this was no big deal.  For Conrad, being invited<\/div>\n
to a teachers’ home was a very big deal.  I still hear his joyful voice on sunny<\/div>\n
days like today.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Eventually Conrad finished his schooling.  And that was the end of the best<\/div>\n
part of his life.  Not much I could do to help him.  One day I heard his mom<\/div>\n
had died and Conrad was living in a substandard basement somewhere<\/div>\n
near Parkdale.  He was poor.  He was just getting by.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Then one day he appeared at Parkdale to say hello.   We met near the<\/div>\n
school office.  Conrad was as cheerful as he had always been but somehow<\/div>\n
I got the feeling things were not good.  He never said that.  Gave no indication<\/div>\n
that he was up against the wall.  But I sensed it.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
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\u201cConrad, here is a bit of money\u2026go out and have a good time.\u201d<\/div>\n
(I really meant go out and get food..)<\/div>\n
\u201cNo, sir, do not need it.\u201d<\/div>\n
(Giving charity is very demeaning.  I  prefer to do it anonymously then<\/div>\n
no one has to be embarrassed but this time I forced $20 into Conrad\u2019s<\/div>\n
hand)<\/div>\n
\u201cPayment for all the work you did for me as team manager\u2026not much money.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Then Conrad disappeared for another few years.  He was a grown man but<\/div>\n
still in difficulty.  Other ex students dropped by and said Conrad was having trouble.<\/div>\n
Living in a single room somewhere near Parkdale.  That worried me but I<\/div>\n
did nothing to sleuth Conrad out.   Too busy.  Too many new students to<\/div>\n
teach.  Too much joy in our family life to give Conrad any attention. If I<\/div>\n
could even find him.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Then he reappeared in the hall. Looked me up and handed me an<\/div>\n
envelope.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cI won $60 at Bingo\u2026here is the money I owe you. Thanks.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
And away he went. Next day, my brother Eric phoned me.  \u201cSomebody<\/div>\n
from Parkdale sent me $20.  Why?\u201d  Eric and I worked together at<\/div>\n
Parkdale for several years.  He knew Conrad.   Why Conrad sent <\/div>\n
Eric $20 I will never know.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
I think he was paying us for making a few years of his life enjoyable.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
March 31, 2022<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
P>S>  Some Parkdale students remember Conrad.  How is he? I heard<\/div>\n
he died a few years ago\u2026hope not.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
P.P.S.  I cannot help but think of two fellow teachers, Lynne Roddick, and<\/div>\n
Leila Buckler, who did much more to help students like Conrad\u2026even to<\/div>\n
the point of taking them into their home when disasters struck.  I admired them<\/div>\n
for that.   They acted quietly.  At some point I must tell the story of Leila Buckler.  I wrote that<\/div>\n
story many years ago.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EPISODE 562    CONRAD BLONSKI…a boy you should have met….he would have tested your humanity alan skeoch March 31, 2022 Big Bill Martin parents ran the Sunnyside Penny Arcade.  They were \u2018Carnies\u2019\u2026Carnival people like Conrad Blonski.   Bill told me many stories about the fat lady made of wax that melted in the sun each […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20753","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20753","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20753"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20753\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20753"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20753"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20753"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}