Part 2 – the next ten years

 In 1959 my parents moved us to the northern part of Toronto, in what was referred to as Bathurst Manor.  It was a culture shock in that the subdivision was made up mostly 3 bedroom houses on streets with no curbs and just built schools.  I went to Wilmington Public School just around the corner from our house, and then Dufferin Heights School down the street and finally Mackenzie Collegiate about a mile away.

 I think I was in grade four when I started at Wilmington Public School.  It was for the most part filled with kids just like us.  It was almost a parochial school since the entire neighbourhood was filled with Jewish individuals.  There would be the odd individual who would be classified as Italian, Greek or Black.  But for the most part we were all Jewish and expected to become doctors, lawyers or accountants.

 I wasn’t quite the genius that I had been at my previous school.  I was coming into my own by exercising my skill at getting into trouble.  In grade 5 I made the unforgiveable error of throwing a snowball.  It hit someone and I then experienced the dreadful strap.  One hit on my right hand.  I don’t recall crying and I definitely didn’t tell my parent.

 Over sixty years later, I had the opportunity to relating the story.  My wife thinks that I am great at exaggerating, but my recollection is always reality at least to me.  The story is that we were at a dinner party involving 8 people.  During a conversation I mentioned that I had once been “principled” (we were discussing chiropractic – you have to be a chiropractor to understand the irony).  I mentioned the incident.  A woman asked me which school I went to, how old I was and in what grade it happened.  She then proceeded to show everyone the small scar over her eye where I had hit her!!  Scary.

Through my first ten years I had some interesting experiences which sometimes led to either me or my brother having to be taken to a hospital.  It wasn’t as if I wasn’t going to catch him when he let go of the swing bar while hanging upside down.  It was just that something else must have caught my attention.   Or I didn’t mean for a nail to go right through my foot when jumping off the synagogue building while they were building it.   I also didn’t mean to knock out a front tooth when playing in the back yard or falling off the veranda but likely stopping the fall with my head!

 And when I wasn’t getting into physical adventures, I found time to partially blow up the light in the dining room.  But honestly it wasn’t my fault when I continue to wonder why my father would buy his delinquent son a chemistry set.   I had put in a number of chemicals into a vial and put a stopper on the vial.  Once I heated the vial and it blew up I knew my future was not in chemistry or bomb disposal.

 Another of my misadventures involved testing the warning never to barbeque in a garage.  It turned out to be a two alarm fire – but only one fire truck was necessary.

 While at Mackenzie I was not exactly an exemplary student.  I visited summer school a few times.  I would receive 40 in one or two subjects, go to summer school, and end up with an 80 or higher grade just to satisfy my parents.  When I finished law school and stood on the dean’s list my mother wanted to know why I had to go to summer school while in high school.  I told her it was because I didn’t have to get a summer job.  The answer was understood but not appreciated.

 I ended up being suspended only twice in high school.  Once for swearing in the hall.  The vice-principal said that he was suspending me for “habitual swearing”.  He did not appreciate my defence that he had only caught me once.

 The second time involved a trip to the vice-principal’s office who asked me why I had missed a number of days at school.  I told him it was for religious reasons.  He told me that almost the entire school was Jewish and he knew what holidays involved a day away from school.  I defended myself by indicating that I took off “all” religious holidays even the most rare religious holidays that might involve a dozen or so people.  He said he was giving me another 3 religious days away from school.

 My last high school adventure involved my being somewhat jealous of the individuals who were the head of any “club” or the student council and could as a result provide an announcement over the PA system of Fridays.  Partly because of that I along with two other individuals started the Victorian Club.  I made the announcement every Friday that the club was meeting at 7 pm. at its usual location and guests were welcome to attend. 

 It was only in the following October that the school learned that the Victorian Club was actually a group of guys going to the Victory Theatre at Spadina and College.  The Victory Theatre was a burlesque theatre before it became more explicit in its productions.  Needless to say we were all under age and even more so, the school did not find a way to revoke our graduation.

 And subject to better recall those were some of my adventures from 1959 to 1969.  Some not all.