Culture Shock in the 1960's

I am not much of a mathematician. That is a fact. So let me ask you what is the answer to this advanced problem?

8 - 7 = ?

I am informed by a reliable source that the answer to this puzzler is one. And in the math world that would be right. But in my world brought on many changes. I passed the summer of 1965 by going to summer school in the mornings to make up for my inability to pass seventh grade math. At first I was ashamed as I went to summer school that year. But then I started understanding some of these obscure concepts such as number lines, how to determine what angle a triangle was, you know, that sort of nonsense. After summer school was over my parents dropped the bomb on me and my siblings. Due to a major tuition increase we would be leaving the world of St. Joseph and St. Anne School and would be transferring to Nathan S. Davis Public School in the fall.  Please note that we were not asked if this was okay with us, we were just informed. 

At first this news disturbed me a bit. I would be leaving SJSA, the only home that I had known since the second grade. I would be leaving classmates that had accompanied me on my journey and I would be changing to another caravan to get me to the destination of High School. Then I thought that this could be a good thing. At SJSA I was always thought of as dumb and or lazy. The nuns lived in a closed society and their thoughts on the worth of a student had to be one of the points of discussion in the refectory at dinner time. By transferring I would be getting some good benefits: 

1. Anonymity - The teachers at this school will never had heard of me, I was never the subject of discussion around the table at any meal!  I would no longer be automatically considered dumb.
2. No more New Math - The nuns at SJSA were nothing if not progressive in their view of what a proper education should be. They embraced the "New Math" which I renamed the "New Mystery."  My friend Big Jim Boinski who attended Shields Public School said that they were being taught only ordinary arithmetic, you know, adding and subtracting, multiplying, and dividing. Hot Dog, that was for me. 
3. Clean Up Week I would be getting a whole week off in the spring - called clean up week. While my former classmates were slaving away at their studies, I would have a whole week of leisure. 
4. No More Bullies Since I was out of SJSA I would be leaving the bullies who tormented the "slower" kids. My slate would be clean and maybe, just maybe, I could shine and become one of the "in" crowd. 

So with some trepidation I started my new career at Nathan S. Davis School and left the nuns, the detentions, the bullies behind and boldly began my final year in grade school with the prize of high school just ten short months away!

That first day presented me with a good dose of culture shock. First, the classroom looked very old fashioned and had desks that were fastened to the floor. And the floor kind of creaked when you walked upon it, kind of like an old time hardware store. Shockingly, there was no crucifix on the wall, no pictures of the Holy Family, no reminders to pray, it was all so very secular and really a shock for this cradle Catholic boy.

The bell rang and all of the kids took their seats and the PA system announced that we would say the Pledge of Allegiance. We all stood and I almost made the sign of the cross, an understandable mistake for a boy who started each school day since first grade with prayer. In this new land, the sign of the cross was not needed.

My classmates were a typical lot of kids. But there was not a light blue shirt and a navy clip on tie in the whole classroom!  As a matter of fact, many of the kids were wearing bluejeans, which would get you the death penalty at SJSA because the school had never ever had bluejeans pass through the doors during the school week, it just wasn't done.

The teachers were ordinary men and women. They were not under vows of chastity, obedience, or poverty and appeared to like their jobs and had a healthy tolerance for the kids under their care. 

A lot of things happened this year. My grades got better, even in math. I did have to deal with some bullying, nothing that punching a kid in the nose wouldn't fix. I saw after school playground fights between George Pina who was in charge of ass kicking in the school and a hillbilly kid named Paul Ballard who for some reason could not keep his mouth shut when in the presence of George, and George was not one to accept insults lightly. His counseling sessions with Paul always ended up with someone having to help Paul up off the ground and to make sure he made it home without collapsing while crossing Pershing Avenue and becoming a hood ornament. 

I got over the culture shock of non-religious education, joined the patrol boys and once a week on Wednesday afternoon helped convoy the kids that signed up for CCD (religious education) to my old school SJSA.  It was kind of strange entering those walls again. Stranger still was I ended up sitting in my old seventh grade classroom,and I naturally made sure I sat in my old desk. I did not learn much that was new about being a Catholic that year. There was little that the nun could teach me that I had not heard before in grades KG through Seventh. But the walk broke up the week nicely and the nun that was teaching the class was one I had in sixth grade, Sister Margaret Jean, and she chose to not call on me when she asked the class a question. Some things don't change! 

My story about growing up on the southwest side of Chicago in the Brighton Park neighborhood contains a lot of humor, a number of lessons, a killer roller coaster, and a genuine flying nun and is available at at my publisher American Star  or at Amazon. com

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