Yeah C.V., & funnily enough, I was recently contacted by an old friend from High School,
& he reminded me of an incident where the captain of the school football team ( RU 1st 15
- for which I played) attempted to "correct my attitude" by "physical discipline" but after
a short exchange of hearty punches, had his "attitude corrected"- instead.. Hah..
He'd been put up to it by the coach, & I let him know I'd be up for a like session with him - if he wanted..
The coach didn't.. ( Mind you, he knew my old man was on the School Board.. & he even said
"I'm not afraid of you - because of your dad".. & I told him - I wasn't afraid of my dad, or him)..
Both my parents could punch hard & I'd learned much younger to both defend & give as good as I got..
My uncles on my mothers side were pretty good boxers ( My uncle Bob when in the Army in WW2 defeated the Egyptian Champion of King Farouk in 1943, & won a very showy cup ) & my mother had sparred with them, so she was a real toughy, & insisted that her kids knew how to step up to the mark..
& "Fight like a man!"- or suffer the consequences, - from her..
My old man had stopped being keen to go hard out - when 'bout that age, I could outreach & rock him back on his heels too..
Anyone who has seen the Linklater movie "Dazed & Confused" set in the mid `70s will get the gist..
In some ways I regret not pursuing a career in the Armed Forces, as I feel I could have done OK there,
-but since they were in bad odour, socially.. post-Viet-Nam at that time, I didn't go there..
Ah, regrets.. Frank Sinatra sang about 'em well, ( & he was cool in that movie "From Here to Eternity",
- my mother loved that flick)..
I guess the point is, once you've learned not to eat needless shit as a kid, it becomes a positive habit
- for life..