FISHFACE IN THE LIBRARY

When you hear of high school students in days gone by, you most likely will hear tales of the old teachers. I don't know why, but it seems to me the high school teachers of previous years were subjected to a lot more innuendoes and sarcasm than they are now.

One such teacher from the Midwest was known as Fishface. When I saw this photograph of a daffodil, I thought of Leapin' Leta or Fishface from the high school library.

As a result of the baby boom, there was little extra space for high school students in the mid-sixties. We even had algebra classes held in the National Guard Armory because we simply outgrew the campus. Study Halls were a staple back then and they were held in the library.

Tables seating six were spread out over a huge library where lots of students were eager to dig into their homework. Right. Study Hall monitors were there to perform disciplinary duties. Dumbo and Fishface were two of the four to ride herd over the pack. There was to be no talking, because even whispering, which wouldn't last long before it was elevated, wasn't allowed. To enforce this rule, roving teachers/monitors moved about.

Lots of activites besides studying were taking place. Catching pigeons and letting them go, throwing pencils and sticking them in asbestos laced ceiling tiles, tossing the ever popular spit balls, (one monitor once referred to them as saliva balls), and throwing buckshot across the hardwood floors were some of the more popular diversions.

My buddy Jimmy sat next to me in a study hall our junior year. Armed with a handful of buckshot, he surveyed the scene. No visible adults. "Do you see anybody?" he asked. I craned my head this way and that and concured, "Nope."

Jimmy whirls in his seat and fires the buckshot at a 60 degree angle over his shoulder. Fishface almost had to jump to get out of the way. It was pretty obvious who had fired the buckshot. Of course, Jimmy was taken to the office for detention and an incident cited on his PERMANENT RECORD. It followed him all the way to the University of Tampa. He still carries it on his PERMANENT RECORD in the state of Virginia. Even his four children are chagrined by the offense and carry the scar like the scarlet A because their father committed this aggressive act as a high school junior.

And all because Leapin' Leta Fishface was standing in the wrong place.