John Gray's Schooldays

We are almost back to normal.
The Prof is asleep on the couch. William( after a big fuss and multiple swedish Meatballs) is also happily snoozing by the fire. The other dogs are in a heap in the kitchen.
I am waiting for the new Bake Off to start

My cousin Karen sent me this snip when we were away.
I cannot remember the photo being taken at all but it certainly looks like me, in my old brown jumper with the holes at the elbows.

I hated school. I hated everything about it.
I hated that I was shy.
I hated that I was bad at sports.
I hated that I had no goal to go to University
And I hated the miserable 70s styles.

I am the higher one  ( circled)

48 comments:

  1. William was missing you!

    School days are hell for so many children, yet for some poor kids those school hours each day are the stable, warn, predictable, safe time in their miserable lives... how tragic is that

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    1. And for some others it was the other way around

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  2. I hated school, too - every single day of it! I was shy, but good at sports and good academically. But I was bored to tears and hated the drama of most of the other girls. Finally found a good friend and that made all the difference, but I still hated school! A wonder I survived it. A wonder any of us did.

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    1. It was a differnt country a long time ago

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  3. Your pack must be so glad to have you both back and Swedish meatballs are icing on the cake. Love the photo and the fact you're not looking at the photographer, you rebel! I agree, the 70's were crap, dreadful hairstyles, fashion....music not bad though

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    1. The bake off was strangely no different as it has always been

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    2. I was a bit surprised about that too. No obviously irksome people and loved sandwich cake guy.

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  4. I hated school too. Good to read William is settled. Enjoy Bake Off. X

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  5. William must be so very happy to be home with his whole family around him. Old dogs need that.
    I hated school too John, as did the hubs. I just wanted to be left alone to read and draw and dream.

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    1. He has just gone up to bed with the Prof and is wagging his tail slowly like a heart beat

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  6. Yes, very 1970s image. A replica of my own class (in both senses).

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  7. My English school days - Primary (loved), Grammar (hated), and Technical College where I flourished because I was no longer treated like a child, were in the late 40's to early 60's. Then I moved here (USA) and realized how different schooling was when I had to send my own kids!
    You haven't changed a lot John - still as cute as ever.

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  8. I'm with Wilma. So glad when I got out of school. I was sporty and academic but never one of the "in crowd" (well, as "in" as you can be when you still have to wear school uniform). I had a few good friends but was so glad to leave at 16. And like you I hated the 70s fashions, probably because coming from a family with not much money I got my older sisters' cast-offs, and it ain't much fun when you're wearing mini skirts 3 years after midi-skirts came in. Still, "mustn't grumble" as they say, I made up for all the missed fun when I came to Switzerland at 21. Happy days. Anna

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  9. Whenever I hear someone say 'schooldays are the happiest days of your life' I shudder. Add me to those who hated it.
    Glad that William has settled again.

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  10. I was glad to leave at 16 and move on.

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  11. It's never to late to have a happy childhood...
    Or so it's been said.

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    1. I like that quote.....so much I shall steal it

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  12. The worst thing is if you're forced to stay at a school when you loathe it and feel totally out of place. My father was convinced my school would do me a world of good, when it should have been blindingly obvious very early on that it was doing me no good whatever.

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  13. Top row, 3rd boy from the left looks like he wants to beat up a couple of people!

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  14. Believe me there was a few of those in that photo

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  15. I hated all 16 years of school (primary, high school, college) for the same reasons you list. add to the fact that I was subjected to abuse at school AND at home...it's no wonder I needed psychotherapy!

    and they are still teaching the kids of today the same crap I had to "learn"; so much of that is NOT applicable to 21st century life!

    good to hear there is a contented william at home.

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    1. Old men are happier in their own beds

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  16. I'm odd as I didn't mind school at all. Didn't love it and didn't hate it just took things as they came and got through..............a bit like now come to think of it.

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    1. I suppose thats all we can all ask.....just getting through

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  17. I would have given you one.

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    1. It was the Prof who was in grammar school

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  18. Happy to hear life is getting back to normal and sounds like William is doing okay.
    I loved school. I even went when I was sick if I could.

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  19. I hated school too. I was a child from California, living in North Carolina, where the children mocked my accent ... MY accent !
    I was small and thin and new in town, in those days, I was everything that did not make you popular.

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  20. But you were so cute! I liked school until I realized that for some reason I didn't "fit." I thought maybe it was because I liked school. Real boys didn't like school, did they? So I stopped liking school.

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  21. I loved school. It was warm and tidy and organised. And you got a pudding every day...what's not to love?....

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  22. Anonymous9:48 pm

    At least not going to university meant you didn't end up with a crippling debt.
    I had no goal to go either - just wanted out of the whole institutionalised learning environment altogether. Perhaps a little ironic that I ended up working at the university.

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    1. I was too old for a debt ! I would have sailed through university if i was supported by parents..that never happened

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    2. Me too. So awful knowing your parents think so little of you.

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  23. I have read so many comments that everyone hated school.
    I loved school, the smell of pencils, crayons new notebooks loved it al. One year I was able to pick the big box of crayons oh my goodness all the colors. We were poor, I didn't know that though, so I don't really know how my mum planned that but she let me pick them one year. I still remember that. Plus new shoes and 5 new dresses. Hello Sears.
    I loved reading and studying. So school was terrific for me. I had a great education, the basics what you need. Reading, writing, arithmetic, history and social studies all the building blocks that today are just not taught.
    So happy to hear all the Gud Dugs are home and happy.

    cheers, parsnip

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  24. Welcome to the crowd, dear John! Most children hate school. It's almost a rite of passage. It's one reason I became a teacher. I was bullied and was determined to stop it wherever I taught. That was pretty difficult. Emotions are near the surface when you are young.

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  25. Wow. It's going to be a few more years before I'm ready to start looking at old school pictures of myself. I didn't hate it terribly, but I am glad I never have to go back there again. I don't see me ever attending a class reunion.

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  26. Many of us hated school, John, you're not alone. It's especially hard on the shy ones, I think.

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  27. Hating school prepares you for your grown-up life of hating your job. That's life and what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger - so they saw.

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  28. School wasn't bad for me, luckily. And I loved all the books we got to read.

    But the real issue here is that you hated 70's fashion - what kind of crazy person hated 70's fashion??!! It was the best of the century!! Stovepipe pants, platform shoes, see-through blouses ... now 80's fashion was BAD ...

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  29. I absolutely hated school! The damn bullies! Good news though when I got into college; I found out I had ADHD. Test and comprehension improved. 🍂🍁🍂

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  30. Anonymous4:33 am

    I loved school ,home was pretty awful.
    No money to go to uni,I would have loved that ... too old for the debt bit too.
    I too hated the polyester '70s.
    I have got a photo like yours and sometimes wonder where they all are but have no intention of finding out !liz 2B

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  31. I loved school, coming from a family with nine children home was hectic, always task to do, I was and still am a book worm, once I discovered the school library I was in heaven.I'm a bit older than you and was in my teens in the 70's, so I embraced all the changes and loved the era.

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  32. But you have turned out well and happy John so somebody must have done something right somewhere along the way.

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  33. I agree with everything you said about school other than the '70s styles, of which I was totally indifferent.

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  34. Apart from Needlework and Cookery, I hated school. Couldn't wait to get out of it and get a job to earn some money.

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