There was one remaining ordeal from the rugby debacle which was Monday morning assembly. This was always the longest assembly of the week because the Head would read out all the scores from the preceding weekend’s sporting fixtures. Rugby results started with the all important 1st 15 and then went in descending order so, when it got to the under 16s I calmly took off my glasses and tucked them into the breast pocket of my blazer.
This wasn’t because I feared violence, it was a trick I’d developed when I got a sudden surge of stage fright realising that my parents were in the front row of the audience for my first concert. Without my glasses I couldn’t see a damn’ thing, I’d got my part firmly memorised so I didn’t need to read the music. As long as I could vaguely make out the Conductor’s waving baton I was fine.
What it meant now was that I couldn’t see the accusatory stares that were almost certainly being aimed at me when the Head got to the Under 15s, although the blush I could feel creeping up my neck and over my face somewhat gave the lie to my feigned insouciance. At least the Head just read out the score, no mention of the atrocity committed by the Linesman.
Apart from some rather fierce jostling as we left the hall that was more or less the end of the matter. If the other boys thought that effectively ostracising me was some form of punishment they badly miscalculated. For one thing I’d pretty much stopped caring in First Form and, for another, most of them hardly talked to me in the first place.
I had a much more important iron in the fire, my audition for the County Youth Orchestra. My violin teacher gave me a date, tee hee it was on a Saturday, and then even offered to take me there herself. That was a major bonus; the journey to Chichester was a three bus marathon from Lurgashall. All I had to do was get to Petworth, where she lived, a mere 5 miles from home and only a mile walk to the bus stop.
Arriving at the school where the auditions were being held I went to sign in and had my first experience of something that would dog me throughout my teenage years. Checking my details, the woman in the office raised her eyebrows questioningly and asked “It says here that you’re 14, is that right?” What fun it was being a late developer!
I assured her that it was quite correct, I was indeed 14, 14½ actually, and her eyebrows went up even more. Why, I wondered, would anyone lie about their age and why had God or genetics decided that at 14 I still had to look like an 11 year old?
The audition was quite terrifying. Playing in front of the County Director of Music while my teacher sat watching my every move and listening to my every note had me sweating. Inevitably I made mistakes, the pressure was enormous, but tolerance seemed to be in that morning and allowances were made. I didn’t play badly; I just didn’t demonstrate my usual confidence.
At last it was over and all that remained was the big question. Could I commit every 4th Saturday to rehearsals? My head said “Not without talking to Killer (the Games Master) first” and my mouth said “Yes, of course I can” so that was it, I’d passed. All I had to do now was present Killer with this fait accompli; he was not going to be a happy chap.
Love
We never ever played rugby, however some of our football matches played on the grass field behind school sometimes evolved into something best described as rugby-sih. No rules, just a major mess… like the state of my clothes when I got home.
Yelled at by my mother upon arrival at home, that was the only obvious rule.
Nice trick, taking the glasses off.
Love
Daniel
It was a cute little trick wasn’t it? The good side of having really crappy eyesight.
I’ve often thought that impromptu schoolboy football games and rugby are about the same but at least Mum would expect my rugby kit to be a mess. Actually the worse the state my kit was in the more highly my parents thought of me, it meant I was playing hard.
Love
Malcolm
Darn its almost 40 years too late to use the eyeglass trick. Wish I would have known of that trick much earlier!
You wrote that if the boys thought by ostracizing you they were punishing you they’d badly miscalculated. How very true! What these guys didn’t realize is that by ignoring us they were doing us a huge favor. Life was tolerable when I was being ignored. Just getting through another school day unscathed was considered a great day.
I hope you are having a great day! JR
Possibly one of the cleverest little tricks I ever came up with.
Isn’t it funny how badly the boys missed the point. Like you, if I could get out of the school gate without talking to anyone in my Form then it had been a good day. I always did prefer my own company in those days.
Love
Mac