recently i unearthed a memory from my days as an elementary school student. we children played softball on a part of the school grounds that was bordered by a street with no fence in between.

one day a student chased the ball into the street. i can’t remember if the child was hit by a car or only the possibility presented itself. what i do remember is that the principal reacted by declaring that henceforth any student who chased a ball onto the street would be strapped.

when my father heard this he told my brothers & i that he hoped we would not be foolish enough to chase a ball onto the street, but in the event that we did so, we were to refuse to be strapped. we were to tell the principal to call my father who would say that we were not to be strapped for the misjudgement of a child.

i had forgotten that incident but i’m curious to unearth how that incident may have influenced my attitude towards authority later in my life.