Officer Friendly to the rescue
In 1969 a classmate of mine at The George School was arrested and held in jail in Philadelphia for drawing a hopscotch grid, in chalk, on a city sidewalk. This week the grandchild of that arresting officer ticketed two teens for drawing, in chalk, a picture on a parking lot’s pavement. I had heard that there was crime in Philadelphia – obviously, that rumor is untrue.
From the George School on line brochure. Explains a lot:
It means that when you come here, you’ll ponder life, truth, and knowledge itself. You’ll read Wuthering Heights and reflect how a mid-nineteenth-century novel can make a contemporary statement. You’ll compete in sports like lacrosse or softball. You’ll write your own Canterbury tale. You’ll use pantomime to learn ceramics, MovieMaker to learn physics, and The New York Times to learn economics. (You may also blast music, build bonfires, and even learn to juggle.)
Well back in the day, two of us snuck through heating tunnels to break into the kitchen and steal cakes and pies, which we’d sell to our fellow students, hopped freights and rode them to Philadelphia and New York, climbed high-tension power line towers for the hell of it and in general, didn’t spend much time reading Wurthering Heights. Can’t remember why the Dean suggested that “perhaps George School isn’t the place for you”, but he did. Ol’ bastard with a fake English accent and a genuine wooden hand – what was his name?
No chalk on parking lots? How long before playing hopscotch is a felony? Not long would be my guess. For those of you who think having a police state to keep you safe from things that crawl in the night is a good idea because you’ve got nothing to hide, here’s a special note: the police may just have to crawl up your ass to verify that: ‘Cops Strip Search Mom, “Forcibly” Pull Tampon Out of Her for Maybe Rolling Through Stop Sign’
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2012/08/cops_strip_search_mom_pull_tam.php
I was wondering about you, actually, CF, and The George School. It is a pretty crunchy, PC kind of place – not usually turning out Republicans and civil libertarians. You probably would have been happier at an all male, red meat eating type of place. Not many in existance these days….
Deepened my resistance to orthodoxy and party line group-think.
I didn’t realize, until GG said something, that The George School back then was coed. Most boarding schools were single sex (maybe with a girls school a mile away). Was there a large day school component to George?
Take a look back at the slideshow the school has provided for 1965-1969. I think you are the guy in the third slide, leaning against the tree!
http://www.georgeschool.org/About%20GS/Our%20History/Photo%20Galleries/Timeline%20Photos.aspx