Son of My Father - We All Did Dumb Things At School (an extract)

Just one of the dumb things that I did at school, when I was a lad. From Son of My Father.

I remember the headmaster because of the one time that I got into trouble at school. It was the only time that I owned up and got into trouble, and he got involved. For the most part I was not a troublemaker, I kept my head down. However, I admit there were moments of stupidity when I did something unbelievable that got me into trouble. This was one of those moments, but at least I owned up to what I had done.

I was playing football in the front school yard, and I recall that no one else was around. I kicked the ball onto the flat roof of a small building. For a moment the ball was heading towards the edge, but then it stopped and got stuck in the guttering. The building was a toilet block which had blacked out windows around the top of it. It was my ball, and I wondered how I was going to get it back.

 I then came up with a great idea. The ball was near the edge of the roof, if only I could knock it off in some way? I found a suitable stone and aimed at the ball. I threw the stone, the aim was true as it headed for the ball, but then it dipped and went through one of the windows. I stood there and looked around. I was alone. I could have done a runner, but that would have meant leaving my ball behind. So, I went to the headmaster's office and owned up to what I had done.

I wondered what my punishment would be.

All things considered, the punishment for breaking the window was a reasonable one in that I was told that I would have to pay for a replacement. Well, my parents would. The school secretary wrote a letter with the amount to pay. It was given to me to give to my parents. Knowing what the consequences would be if I showed them the letter, I opened it, read the contents and then decided that I wouldn't tell them.

The amount to pay was a few pounds, so I raided my piggy bank and took a load of loose change into school the next day. The secretary must have wondered why my parents didn't have any pound notes.

I got my ball back as well. The headmaster must have been impressed that I owned up to him. My friends were not that impressed. They wanted to know why I didn’t do a runner. The truth was that I had no choice but to own up. I had written my name on the ball that morning.

 

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