Part 13

We arrived safely back in Ontario.  I give my dad back his car, we filled my car up with wedding gifts and headed to Cherryhill Blvd. just a couple of miles south of the Law School.

I now had to find a summer job that would help pay the rent and the tuition.  I was given an opportunity to work at the London Post Office and learned a second life lesson when going for the interview.  I was dressed appropriately and was ready to behave and answer all of the questions in an appropriate fashion.  But I had not anticipated the one question that has never alluded me to this day  -- in this case it was "who was the postmaster general of Canada".  I didn't know and I should have been prepared for the question.  And since that day, my simple adage is "hope for the best; plan for the worst and expect the unexpected".  So, if I was going to apply for any job - and with AI it is very easy, I would be prepared up the yin yang  -- and if applying to the post office, I would make sure that I knew what the cost of a stamp was.

I did get a job.  At London Life Insurance.  It was basically filing old files.  The more important part of the job was putting together the banker boxes.  I became quite efficient in creating the boxes which is something that I continue to do to this day.

I recall coming home from work the first day.  I walked in to the apartment and Judy was grinning because she made our first meal together.  I stopped quickly and asked and then demanded to know what we were eating.  She said a surprise but when she saw the look on my face she relented and said chick cacciatore.  I said no way, no how.  Stop it and take the chicken out of the pan or pot and wash it off.  She thought I was crazy until I explained that to this day I can still remember and even smell the stewed tomatoes that I was forced to eat in nursery school or kindergarten.  It was an experience that ranks right up there with an episode of SAW.  

To this day, Judy has never cooked stewed tomatoes.  I don't mind pasta sauce and love Italian cooking, as long as the sauce is not merely stewed tomatoes  -- it needs pesto, garlic, etc etc etc etc.

Then it was back to school.  I was elected as secretary of the student council so I got a key to the offices.  I took notes of meetings and sat on faculty council.  I was then appointed to the admissions committee. All were great experiences.  Anyone who simply goes to law school has no idea of what can be gained from the total experience.  There may be only 24 hours in the day, but it is a sin to waste any of it.  This sage advice comes from someone who is a tv addict.   That is why quick reading helped me immensely.  That and the fact that I could type like a whiz.  I took typing in grade nine when all the other guys in the class took wood working.  I had a vision of losing a couple of fingers.

I learned on a manual remington to music as in 1, 2, 3 and hit the return bar.  And then came the electric and then the ball and the automatic front and back.  By the time the word processors cam along I was typing all my own stuff and saving a heck of a lot of time.  I still do.

Judy, on the other hand, besides her day job, was doing typing for law students at a reasonable rate of remuneration.

I was taking the usual subjects, ie. labour law, family law, real estate etc.  The real estate course came with a real live incident that caused me to visit the professor and explain why I should be thrown out of the law school.

Things happened this way  --  There was the usual examination.  When I opened the exam book I noticed that the first question looked very very similar to the fact situation in the case of Otis Elevator v. The Bank of Montreal.  (you can check it is real).  So I answered the question and even referred to the case.

About a week later I was call into Professor WR's office.  He wanted to know where I got his exam.  I told him I didn't.  Then he wanted to know how I knew that the first question involved the elevator company.  I explained that I had read the case.  He basically said - no way.

We then journeyed to the law library.  I took him to the soft cover Ontario Law Reports.  Back then they were soft covered and then put into hard cover about every 4 months.  I showed him the Report that contained the Otis case.  He was shocked.  He apologized and said that in 15 years no one had ever ever done that.   I got a great mark in the course and gave my oldest son his middle name.

The next great adventure involved Family Law and a trip to the hospital.

 Part 12

We end up at the Cavendish Motel on the north shore of PEI.   Quaint and perfect.  That is our stomping ground for a few days in PEI.  We drive to the northwest corner of PEI and most of the area.  We have a Sunday meal at St. Anne's Church and the highlight was me watching swimmers in the St. Lawrence and thinking that it would be a great day to swim.  wrong.  I ran into the water and instantly froze.  It must have been a set up from locals to get someone from Toronto to run like heck from the freezing water and looking quite ridiculous.  it worked.

Our next journey was to Nova Scotia and straight to Sydney on Cape Breton Island.  Fantastic.  We did the trip into the mines and saw the fort at Louisburg.  Then down to Halifax and a visit to Peggy's Cove while it was still in its natural state.  I have been back to Peggy's Cove a couple of time and to Cavendish once -  unfortunately there is now a serious tourist area in Cavendish with an amusement park.  It is not amusing!

After the stay in Nova Scotia we travelled to New Brunswick.  We had to visit the magnetic hill which really is strange.  Then in St. John were were at the beach when I decided to travel out to the water's edge.  It seemed like a good idea until the tide came in and I found out that I was standing on a little hill.  I had to walk back to shore in  water up to my waist.  Clothes and all.

And then came an experience which radically changed by life.

While travelling in a residential area of St. John on a Sunday afternoon, smoke came out of the hood of my dad's car.   I pulled over in what someone from a middle class family Toronto might think of as a working class area.  That was my first thought.  My second thought was that I was screwed.

A number of people were sitting on their front steps.  I am not sure if they were smoking or drinking beer with the men in tshirts (what used to be called by another name that I never liked).  Anyway, a few of them came to the car to see what was happening.  The hood of the car was lifted and vapour escaped.  The initial diagnosis was a water pipe had ruptured.

There appeared to be a gas station at the end of the street.  The men agreed or simply told me that they would push the car to the gas station.  I was still freaked out since I had little cash on me and only a gas credit card while driving a big new Buick with Ontario licence plates.

As I said it was Sunday but the gas station was open  --  turned out to be the only gas station.  The owner took a look and told me that he might be able to repair it.  We pushed the car into an empty bay and waited outside.  I started counting dollars in my head.  He finally came out and said that he didn't have the parts but would send his son to hopefully find some.   More dollars in my head.

While the son was driving around the City I told the neighbours who had grown to about a dozen or more about us being on our honeymoon, from Toronto, me being a student, and driving my dad's car.  All the while, me thinking of how I was going to pay for the repairs.

The son finally returned without any parts.  The owner then told us that he would try and make a temporary pipe to deal with the issue.   More $$$$$.   After about 30 minutes, the owner came out and told us that he had taken care of the entire problem and that we could be on our way.

I sheepishly asked how much I owed him.  That is when the life altering experience took place.   He said there was no charge!!!  I was mortified at my having thought that I was going to be taken advantage of.  My love for easterners happened at that moment together with my deciding to pay forward that kindness for the rest of my life.

I had a few dollars so I bought everyone a soft drink (.25 cents).  

As an example of paying forward the experience, during my teaching, I was asked to swear declarations by students in 4th year with respect to licence examinations and registration.  Over the years, probably 30 years times 150 students time 2 applications.  No charge.  Lawyers are able to charge and many charge $25 or $50 per any declaration that they sign.  I could have used the money but the service was much more important.  That is just one example.

And then we ended up back in London Ontario at our new apartment and the beginning of a 52 year run.

 PART 11

The next big chapter in my life starts on June 18, 1972 - 52 years ago.  As I tell it  -- much to Judy's consternation -- we have been married 52 years because we have a perfect marriage  - we are both in love with the same man  - me.

Anyway, I had a stag before the wedding.  It was in a synagogue so we all had to behave ourselves - except, as I recall it -  I did well at the poker game.  They probably let me win.

I remember driving to Hamilton with my brother and his girlfriend, listening to the theme from the Lone Ranger.  It is amazing how little things stick in the mind.  It is the big things that get lost.

The wedding involved about 16 ushers and bridesmaid, a tuxedo hand made by my father-in-law the tailor; and about 400 or so guests.  I wanted a small wedding.   My parents asked me if I thought it was better to meet people at a wedding than at a funeral.  Since I don't like going to funerals since the person who died is not coming to my funeral -  I had to agree to the logic.  So, the parents and Judy wanted a big wedding and I didn't much care.

It was a nice affair and even had a band that had been the band at my bar mitzvah.  The Rabbi and I didn't really see eye to eye on much of the tradition that he tried to get me to agree to, such as double ring ceremonies did not really exist in the orthodox faith.  

Judy and I left at about 11 pm.  We decided to travel to the east coast of Canada on a road trip for our honeymoon.  It was expected to be quite different.   We almost ended up in a divorce with 15 miles of Hamilton and before the marriage was consumated.  

My father had generously agreed to lend me his Buick for the drive.  We almost got to the QEW from the 403 when Judy told me she had forgotten her luggage.  Being a relatively patient and quiet individual - NOT - the conversation didn't go very well.   I had to decide if I was going leave her at the side of the road or turn back and get the luggage.  I obviously went back for the luggage.

We spent the night at what was the Hyatt at Yorkville and then we went to my parent's house to let the dog out to do his business.  That went about as well as the luggage issue because she took off.  We went looking for her but had to wait about 2 hours for her return.

And then we headed west (actually) going to Niagara Falls and then heading east.  The first night we stopped and decided to see the movie Pornoy's Complaint.  It was restricted and they did not want to let Judy in since she look about 16 at the time.  They thought her id was phony.  I think the wedding ring finally got us admission.

Then the next day we were at Montreal - then Fredericton and then Moncton where I almost started a riot after eating at Cyr's.   I was expecting to see a tidal wave.  When the water cam trickling in, I persuaded the crowd that we had been ripped off.  The RCMP persuaded us to behave.

Next day was a trip to Antigonish to wait for the ferry to PEI.  Now you can drive to the Island for free.  You just have to pay to leave.

 Part 10

I was thinking whether anything else of interest happened in first year law school.  I do remember having a great admiration for the librarian - Margaret Banks - who was famous among law schools.  She was able to help me a great deal with research and knowing how to make great use of a law library.  And back then it was important (no computer, no internet and definitely no chatgpt).

Other than that, it was always nose to the grindstone.  It is true that: first year law school - they scare you to death; second year they work you to death; and third year they bore you to death.  It was just like that, except in first year they scared and worked students beyond what should have been allowable.

I had survived the snoring of my roommate, moot court, assignments and everything else that could be thrown at us including the fact that we had to attend at a class after the previous class had income tax such that the room smelled like a locker room from the "sweat" of the students.  The room really smelled of "fear".

So now it was exam time -- ie. hell on earth.  We were all paranoid but as the saying goes  -- that does not mean that the world is not out to get you!  Reading, making notes, reading some more, guessing what would be on the exam, more reading and more notes.  

When it was finished I moved back home.  It was the beginning of May.  I had a job working in a metal factory.  To this day I can't get the smell of steel and oil together, out of my brain.

I was getting married on June 18th and waiting for my grades.  If I was not successful in first year I was contemplating getting in my car and heading out of town, permanently.  So weeks went by with no results.

It was now the second week of June and I was so paranoid that I tracked down the personal phone number of one of my professors and begged to know if I had passed first year.  I must have been very persuasive because he actually told me I had passed.  

I had previously gotten hold of the wedding invitation and replied that I would be there if I had nothing else arranged.   Little did anyone know that I was serious.   I received the grades on the Friday and got married on the Sunday.

 PART 9

I have to set out an incident that happened in first year Torts Class.

We had an interesting professor who came from South Africa whose initials were HJ.  Now, I believe that if individuals were not going to be lawyers they were going to be actors of some nature.  Particularly law professors.

One particular class that comes to mind involved the case of Palgrave v Long Island Railway (I can't believe that after 50 years I can still remember certain cases.  Ms Palgrave was suing Long Island Railway because she was injured when a conductor helped (pushed) a rider to get on the train.  He dropped a package which exploded and caused damage to Ms. Palgrave.

The professor came into class with a package.  It was obvious that at the appropriate time he would drop the package.  I sat in the back of the class with MB.  I had with me a small new years eve pull string that would let out a bang with streamers.  When the professor dropped the package I pulled the stream which let out a very loud bang.  The students jumped and the professor grabbed his chest and sat down.  

Everyone let out a roar and MB and I quickly collected the streamers under the desk.  The professor wanted to know who had done it.  No one pointed at me and I did not volunteer to admit to the act.  He didn't suffer a heart attack, even though I initially thought that I might have killed him.

Looking back, it was a dangerous move that could have gotten me kicked out of school.  But it was great.

Other than that, I sort of behaved myself during first year.

 Part 8

No it wasn't a condom -  no way, no how.  Besides I drove a Mustang!

After she froze, Judy opened the box and it was an engagement ring.  I was in school, no money, not much of anything, but I was engaged.  Oh  - she said yes.  Then I had to deal with all of the fallout - as in announcements, parents get togethers, and the new found obligation to behave myself as best as I could through the last year of university.

We agreed - or our parents agreed - that we would get married in June 1972 - which  would be after my first year of law school  -- maybe or maybe not a wise choice depending on whether I was going to be going into second year or otherwise deciding what my alternative occupation would be.  There were two engagement parties -- one in Toronto and one in Hamilton.  I stayed out of the entire scenario right up to and including the wedding.  

But back to school.  I received an early acceptance letter to Windsor Law school and held it for a couple of weeks and then received early acceptance to Western which I grabbed.  I had gone to public school literally around the corner from my house, junior high down the street, high school just a little further walk and then York University about 4 miles (at that time there was no metric) down the road.  I had to get out of town before I was buried in a cemetery just another 3 miles down the road.

I had to prepare to move to London, Ontario and share an apartment with a distant cousin who snored like a train!  I was there a few days before the start of school.  My next door neighbours were two very cute girls who came from Sarnia.  But I was engaged which was like or more serious than marriage.  Absolutely no fooling around!!

I knew at least one person who I had gone to high school with and had no problem speaking with the other poor souls who were going to give up their freedom to law school.  We quickly found out that while the usual class size was 150 weeded down to about 125 - our class was filled with 175 students.  we were given the usual line on orientation  - that look to your right and look to your left - one of you will not be here in the spring.  They actually changed it to read - look to your right and look to your left it is likely that one of you will not be here after Christmas break.

The tuition was about $650 a year - the texts cost a small fortune and weighed a tone.  You learned very quickly that the most important thing about law school was to stay healthy.  If you missed one day of school you fell behind for what seemed like a week.  It was the socratic method of teaching which meant that the students had to sit in a preassigned seat and the professor had a picture of every student in the appropriate seat  -- which also meant that you tried to sit as far down in the seat as possible and pray that you were not called on to answer a question.

If any of this sounds draconian -- then watch the movie "Paper Chase".  It came out at the same time I was in law school and you were swear that they were filming our class.  I can still picture John Houseman throwing a dime at a student and telling him to call his mother and tell her he was coming home.  

You read the cases, you tried to dissect the case and prayed that you were not called on to do the oral presentation - which generally lasted about 30 seconds until the professor interrupted and suggested that you go back and obtain a degree in sociology or something other than law.

Our professors at Western were the authors of law books in contract law, real estate, etc etc.  They were in many cases also practitioners and if not were scholars who could successfully debate with the devil.  we were outnumbered and outgunned.

At Christmas there were examinations.  We were given a promise that they were not going to count to our final grades.  Thank goodness.  Not one student passed the constitutional examination which had one question - as I recall - was about 20 pages in length and involved the dispute between the Maritime Provinces and the federal government over fishery rights.  The exam started at 9 am and there was no time limit - you could stay as long as you wanted but when you left the room the exam was over.  There was no such thing as academic accomodation in the 70's.    I last about 4 hours.  As I said, no one got a passing mark.

I also achieved a 10 out of 100 in property law; 15 out of 100 in criminal law - a mark not worth mentioning in evidence and I may have passed contract law but it is a blur.  On one fellow student the professor actually told the student to quit and try and get a partial refund on his tuition.  The only thing that kept me going was that I had no other place to go.  It was brutal and a few students took the advice and left running not walking.  The rest of us just took solace in our study groups.   Looking back -- it was fun!

 Part 7

So now I have to get a summer job between first and second year.  There was a Toronto day camp doing a job search at the university.  Myself and a friend applied.  They had two types of positions - counsellor or maintenance.  Much to the shock of the interviewers, we applied to be maintenance men.  We realized it pays better; we don't have to deal with the campers; and there were some serious intervals during the day when we could just veg.  We were the most educated maintenance men they ever hired and we did it for two years.

At the same time, I was now travelling to Hamilton on a regular basis and sleeping on my girlfriends couch.  We were now, what was called "exclusive".  I travelled with her family to Montreal for a wedding and we spent almost every weekend together.   When we were not together, we actually wrote letters, and when we could afford it we called each other long distance.  That was the end of the 60's and beginning of the 70's.  Something that no other generation will ever experience.

During my first and second year, I volunteered in the psych department for psych experiments.  One involved being an air traffic controller and being hooked up to a machine which registered tension.  I think I broke the record on how many planes could crash within 60 minutes.   My second project involved tension control -  which proved to be very useful during my studies and thereafter -- considering that (while not being diagnosed) it was evident that I had HDADD  -- being translated to attention deficient disorder, disagreement, disruptive, disputive, disagreeable,and all other dises - but when paying attention it is in High Definition.

Second year was pretty non-eventful other than increasing my knowledge of having to get much better grades and being a better poker player.

At the second year, I had a wonderful experience when Judy's father sat me down and asked me what my intentions were with respect to his daughter  -  there was no shotgun, but I was surprised by the conversation.  I just kept nodding my head.

The most important adventure between second and third year involved my taking what was referred to as the "Evelyn Wood Speed Reading" course.  There were about 25 people starting the course, but diminishing over the 8 week course.  We were told that most people read at 150 words a minute because they verbalize and can't speak faster than 150 words a minute (I recall that JFK was alleged to be able to speak 300 words a minute).   

Once we were taught to get past 150 words a minute - the next hurdle was about 350 wpm an then 700 wpm and then 1500 wpm and then whatever.  By the time we were at 1500 wpm there were only 3 of us left  -- myself, another student and a university science professor.    We were finally tested at over 3000 wpm.

I used the skill --  which is really "effective reading" and not speed reading.  You will have to do your own investigation about the process since I could write a book on the subject - as there have been -- including Effective Reading by Adler (I think published in the 1920's).

Anyway, I had done well in all my subjects earning 4 A's and 2 A pluses.  In one course, I had received a 70 out of 75 and had one examination.  It involved two texts that I had not read.  I decided to test the effective reading skill by sitting outside the Tait Mackenzie gym an hour before the exam and begin reading the texts.  I ended up with an A plus in the course.

Going back a few months, I had to write the LSAT.  I decided to take it in October of 1970 in case I had to write it again and to avoid the paranoia of all of the individuals taking the test in the spring.  At that time it was an 8 hour exam  - before and after lunch.  To prepare, I went to a party the night before.  There was no preparatory course that now exists.  By the time lunch was over we had lost about a third of the individuals taking the test.  

I had applied to law schools, waited for the results, did ok and then waited for acceptance or rejections letters.

Late in April, Judy and I drove to Princess Point in Hamilton.  While enjoying the moonlight, I took out a small box and gave it to Judy.  She told me later, that she thought it held a condom.

 Part 6

I am now in my first year at York -- taking sociology and psychology courses -- easy choices since I can't do anything else.  Actually, I am specializing in "poker" and making sure that I get home in time to watch Jeopardy.

By April, I am ready for the finals.  In one course we have a take home exam.  Three questions.  That being the case, I am coordinating with my friend.  He is delivering his answer to question 3 to my home.  He walks in and behind him is his girlfriend and her cousin who are on their way to an engagement party.  The cousin comments on my car.  That is another story and takes us back to September of 1968 when I enroll in university.

My parents had always said that if I get into university they would buy me a car (definitely not new).  Since I achieved that goal with the help of my father, he was able to get me a 1965 triumph spitfire for the sum of $600.00.   It was a great little car that could be moved in the driveway with the assistance of four people just picking it up.  It was obviously a standard so I had to learn how to drive stick shift, via a volkswagen beetle much to the dismay of the driving instructor.  I only blew one clutch with the assistance of my sister.

At the end of the summer, I finally persuaded my mother to go for a ride in the car.  I was zipping along the 401 and took the Avenue Road exit at which time I did a 360 degree turn.  When we got home my mother told my father that she was no longer, cooking, cleaning or washing until the car was gone!  

My dad took sympathy on me and sold the car for $800 and purchase a used Mustang (red with black stripes).  I then proceeded to put in an eight track tape deck so that you could hear music about 300 yards away.  The doors would vibrate with the music.

Back to the exam.  The cousin whose name I found out was Judy, said she loved the car.  I told her that if she wanted I would drive her to the engagement party.  She agreed.  I was in blue jeans with no shoes.  While driving to the party I offered to drive her home.  She said she lived on Gary Avenue which I knew was at Bathurst and Lawrence in Toronto.  My mistake, it was actually Gary Avenue in Hamilton.  Crazy me  -- I actually still drove her home.  A couple of weeks later, she asked me out on a date to her cousin's engagement party in Kitchener.   I agreed to go.

First I had to meet her parents.  I drove to Hamilton and her parents were at their next door neighbours' house.  Every group of people have a person who is a "comedian".  The husband next door was the comedian.  He started interviewing me.  What was I doing, what was I going to be and then what did my parents do.  To the last question, I quickly answered that my parents were in the "iron and steel business".  "My mother irons and my father steals."  Word got around Hamilton very quickly, that everyone should be careful about getting into a coversation with me.

 Part 4

I was able to escape from high school (and summer school) with a desire to go to university.  When I was rejected from York U my father wanted to try and change its position.  He contacted the Dean and was able to get us an interview.

I had been exempt in all courses except math and with the summer school mark I actually had a decent average over 70%.  I took my transcript with me to the interview.  The Dean had my application and wanted to discuss grades.  He asked me how I did in History  --  I told him I didn't take History.  He asked how I did in French - I told him I didn't take French.   I told him my marks in chemistry, physics, english, geography and math.  He made no attempt to hide his confusion.  He looked at my transcript and indicated that he had the grades of another applicant by the same name.  Another example of my travelling through the "twilight zone".

He asked me the question that - if I was admitted to first year at York would I be a student who would make York proud.  What a stupid question.  I lied and said yes.  I was admitted to first year, one day after the commencement of the academic year.

It took about 6 weeks before my true nature showed its face.  The entire first year class was required to take "Modes of Reasoning", being a course in logic, as in "if a equals b and b equals c then a equals c."  Very logical.

Students were present in Stedman Hall for the lecture in person and many more students had to view the lecture by tv in other rooms.  The professor was British and not very dynamic.  No one asked any questions, and he merely read for the 50 minute lecture period.

No questions, that is, until I decided to ask a question which took everyone including the professor by surprise.  The question was "why do we have to take this class".  His answer was a curt "because it is a required course".  My not being satisfied to then just sit back and take it - I put my hand up for a second question.  When asked what my question was, I brazenly asked:  "then why does it have to be so boring".   All hell broke loose with students yelling at each -- the professor trying to get control and finally the class being dismissed.

I had to walk from the Stedman Hall to Vanier College for my philosophy class in the Don's room with ten or so other students.  When we all got there the only topic of discussion was what had happened in the previous class, and even the Don enquired as to what was being referred to as a riot by the first year class.  I did not offer any opinion and kept my identity a secret.

After everyone else left, I confessed that I had been the perpetrator of the discourse and I actually felt bad about how I had acted.  It was suggested that I apologize to the Professor which I did almost immediately.

It was ironic that of all the courses that I took in my undergraduate studies, the only course that had any relevance to my law studies was "Modes of Reasoning".  If I had only known, maybe I would have done better than a C in the course.