{"id":5766,"date":"2020-09-16T10:55:29","date_gmt":"2020-09-16T14:55:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5766"},"modified":"2020-09-16T11:00:11","modified_gmt":"2020-09-16T15:00:11","slug":"episode-120-violence-theme-someone-wanted-to-beat-the-shit-out-of-me-why-remains-a-mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=5766","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 120 VIOLENCE THEME: SOMEONE WANTED TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF ME. WHY? REMAINS A MYSTERY"},"content":{"rendered":"
EPISODE 120   VIOLENCE THEME:     SOMEONE WANTED TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF ME.  WHY?  REMAINS A MYSTERY <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
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VIOLENCE:  CAN FRIENDS BECOME ENEMIES?<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
OUR Graduation class from Runnymede Public School in 1952.   Wow, were the girls every pretty.  I began to notice them<\/div>\n
in Grade 6 which may have been a little early.  See Joan McReynolds (third left). I liked her but never said so or even acted<\/div>\n
interested.  I am third right, back row. That\u2019s our grade 8 teacher, Mr. Hambly, who invited us all to his home<\/div>\n
on a beautiful June afternoon.   Some of us felt a little guilty about firing paper caps into his prize wasp nest when his<\/div>\n
back was turned.  He was a very nice person.   The big guy is Bill Mashtalar (story coming\u2026close call violence years <\/div>\n
later).<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
My student ID card from 1954\u2026it was three years  earlier that the threats came.   Why would anyone want to beat me up?<\/div>\n
Should I go to WESTERN Tech or just pretend the threat never came?<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
My three years at Runnymede  Public school were happy years.  Grades 6,7 and 8. Non-violent years<\/div>\n
except<\/div>\n
for the trick jump into Roger Pughs back yard. But that only worked  once.  When we <\/div>\n
did a vault over the board fence there was a drop of eight or nine feet that we could<\/div>\n
not see.  Nasty drop.  Fun to persuade a novice to \u201c:Follow us\u201d.Good joke.  Unprepared<\/div>\n
follower went into a free fall with no parachute.  We knew the trick and  landed on our<\/div>\n
feet. Potentially violent I suppose.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
My first few months  at Humberside Collegiate were not great.  Culminated in<\/div>\n
a potentially violent fight that I was destined to lose.  Someone knew my locker<\/div>\n
number.  One day my text books were loaded with indelible ink obscenities like<\/div>\n
\u201cFuck Off\u201d \u201cAsshole\u201d, etc.  I was devastated because I did not know I was hated<\/div>\n
by someone until that moment.  The only person knowing my combination lock number was one of my<\/div>\n
good friends.  We shared the locker.   He was the only possible source.  Why would he do that?  Later that week<\/div>\n
there was a scribbled note in my shared locker. \u201cCome  over to Western Tech<\/div>\n
after school.  Someone wants to fight you.\u201d  I know this note does not sound like<\/div>\n
much of  a threat but put yourself in the shoes of a non violent kid, in a brand new <\/div>\n
school, suddenly confronting anonymous enemies that wanted to beat the shit out<\/div>\n
of him for no discernible reason.   I still do not know who hated me that much.<\/div>\n
Nor why.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
That\u2019s a laugh.  But it will affect your lungs\u2026left unsaid.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
It was  possible the cigarette incident triggered the hatred.  But that is a  stretch.<\/div>\n
The First week at Humberside I walked to school with Bill Rankin and Bob Taylor.<\/div>\n
Friends.  They stopped at the Ravine Gardens hockey rink to light up cigarettes<\/div>\n
before school.  \u201cTry it, Alan\u2026get some cigarettes\u201d  So  I stole three Craven A<\/div>\n
cigarettes from Fran\u2019s pack at Hertell\u2019s drug store where I was a clerk earning<\/div>\n
35 cents an hour.  Fran would not care but I did not want anyone to know i was<\/div>\n
starting to smoke.  So next day I lit up the Craven A with Bob and Bill.  I remember<\/div>\n
the moment so  clearly.  As I dragged the smoke in my lungs I thought, \u201cWhat the<\/div>\n
hell am I doing this for?\u201d  And I threw away the cigarette then gave my extra <\/div>\n
stollen cigarettes to Bob and Bill.  We did  not share much after that.  They both<\/div>\n
left high school in Grade Ten.  Our friendship evaporated with the smoke.<\/div>\n
Maybe Bill resented me for some reason.  He was also my locker partner.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Did I go over to Wetsern Tech to get the shit beaten out of me?  Get serious.<\/div>\n
I stayed put.  Never found out who had been ticketed to beat the shit out<\/div>\n
of me  but suspected several erstwhile friends.  Maybe not Bill as he said<\/div>\n
he others knew our combination.  Odd Comment though. There was no follow up to the threat.<\/div>\n
And I began looking for new friends.  Found them.  Russ Vanstone,<\/div>\n
Gord Sanford and Jim  Romaniuk.   Friends for life.  <\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Sept. 2020<\/div>\n

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

EPISODE 120   VIOLENCE THEME:     SOMEONE WANTED TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF ME.  WHY?  REMAINS A MYSTERY  VIOLENCE:  CAN FRIENDS BECOME ENEMIES? OUR Graduation class from Runnymede Public School in 1952.   Wow, were the girls every pretty.  I began to notice them in Grade 6 which may have been a little […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5766","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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5766\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}