Feel The Status

It was strange that partly because of our family ‘not’ owning a motor vehicle, it sometimes affected our school ‘status’. Car-less was seen as labelling us directly into the ‘poor people’ category. Yet I was always amused when we could jump straight onto our bikes (when we had them) at the end of the school day, and start making our way home (even if in the winter it was cold on the bike, very cold in winter), while the special ‘rich’ kids had to wait until their mothers came to collect them (waiting outside the school gates in the winter as well). Perhaps pointing this out to them on several occasions, led to finding the bicycle tyres regularly being let down at the end of a school day? I began, even then, as that young child to equate ‘rich’ with the word ‘mean’ (this has changed a little, but has never been diss-proven entirely)

This was just one of my objections to the Capitalist format. It taught the dreadful maxim (which was later encouraged by government unfortunately) that ‘Greed is Good’. That if you had money it automatically made you better. Many children from ‘rich’ families appeared to automatically believe this. They ‘lauded’ over the other, less significant of us. They often paraded what they saw as their ‘wealth’, sometimes a special set of clothes (Not all schools had a school uniform), or a fancy or very current new toy (one of the reasons schools put a ban on toys being brought to school?), some form of game equipment (a football, new sports shoes, etc,- no electronic games invented then), or would loudly and constantly go on about some trip away (they were always ready to ‘rub’ that one in to those of us who never got a trip away). Or worse the way they spent any cash they had. Making the point that you didn’t have any. Even worse, proving to other children that you didn’t have any money. Ever (which is getting to the Robin Hood side of the story)!

Children, if not guided decently can be seriously unkind. It was their way to say how much better than you they were. One thing I have learnt in all my life lessons. You can’t buy morals, or good behaviour. I know some may argue, ‘but you can bribe people to behave well and get them to do what you want (As proven time and time again in local, state and Federal elections to this day!)? Which is true, but if the people’s morals were of a high enough standard, then they wouldn’t accept a bribe would they? Good behaviour and moral behaviour should be learnt early. So while I have occasionally done the wrong thing I had developed a serious moral code, which has stood me in good stead, even if at times it has isolated me from a group. It was from one of these lessons, which involved Robin Hood and the excellent teacher Mr Walsh, rather than one of my father’s punishments that gave me the real direction (nearly there). (Continued tomorrow)