I grew up in an area with a couple of Catholic schools, (that went to at least 8th grade), 5 public elementary schools, a public Jr., (7th &8th grades),\u00a0 H.S. and a LARGE public H.S. Yes, the single largest \u201cethnicity\u201d in town was people of Italian, (or at least Mediterranean*), heritage.\u00a0 For the most part, moving to this suburban environment taught me about how cultures not only \u201cget a long\u201d but mix, or, for a better word, \u201cstir\u201d into the Melting Pot of the American Dream.\u00a0 In every way.\u00a0 But for the purpose of this essay, we\u2019ll concentrate on just one social angle\u2026Keep reading,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0 The \u201csocial\u201d calendars were very active.\u00a0 With that many schools and youth organizations, (from the OFDI to De Molay to the Boy & Girls Scouts AND the CYO*), there were dances and proms a-plenty.\u00a0 (Keep reading).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0 I don\u2019t know you.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know your heritage.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know your school.\u00a0 But I remember mine.\u00a0 I can remember that\u00a0ALL<\/em>\u00a0of \u201cus guys\u201d of a \u201ccertain age\u201d, (usually the age when curiosity outweighed experience by a couple of orders of magnitude),\u00a0 knew, in NO uncertain terms, who \u201cthose girls\u201d were, and there were five or six of them by the time I got to H.S.\u00a0 Each year had one.\u00a0 Some had two because girls who got \u201cleft back\u201d, (yes, that WAS still practiced), were\u00a0automatically<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cthat kind\u201d.\u00a0 Keep reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0 At that time, (raised the way I was), it ticked me off that this was just a male version of gossip; something considered a feminine trait, ordinarily, and belittled by men about women since time immemorial.\u00a0 Here, a bunch of greasers sat around with a swiped bottle of dad\u2019s wine doing the same damn thing.\u00a0 Pathetic.\u00a0 No wonder I was considered a \u201cloner\u201d.\u00a0 I found that out very recently, by the way.\u00a0 It seems that EVERYONE in the building from the time I was a raw Freshman to the day I walked off the graduation field and boarded a bus for the Army.\u00a0 Never knew I was that popular.\u00a0 Keep reading, we\u2019re getting there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0 When it came to \u201cthose\u201d kind of girls, I could tell by the way they acted that it was very likely untrue, and that was a damnable shame.\u00a0 For the record, no.\u00a0 Catholic School didn\u2019t change anyone\u2019s proclivities to or during a romantic encounter.\u00a0Some of \u201cthose\u201d girls were from broken homes, others from what we now call \u201cthe working poor\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0One who was actually physically abused at the hands of a relative.\u00a0 In some cases, a simple matter of not wearing the nicest, newest clothes a\u2019la the girls \u201cfrom up on the hill\u201d\u00a0 Being a \u201cHardy Boys\u201d nut, I was able to find this out because not fitting in anywhere made it easier and less suspicious for me to\u00a0be<\/em>\u00a0anywhere.\u00a0 \u00a0Okay, now I was even less enthusiastic about the gossip.\u00a0 I was going to do something about it.\u00a0 So I did.\u00a0 Here we go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0 Then there was the fact that I HAD a, (well deserved), worse \u201creputation\u201d than all of them combined.\u00a0 AS a matter of fact, I not only\u00a0dated<\/em>\u00a0but double dated with at least\u00a0three<\/em>\u00a0of \u201cthose girls\u201d, just to show that there was NO REASON for their \u201creputation\u201d. Because if\u00a0I didn\u2019t<\/em>, there wasn\u2019t anyone else going to.\u00a0 I made it known, loud and clear, that\u00a0not only were they also \u201cnice girls\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 worthy of all the\u00a0respect due to be shown any other girls, (some of who, \u201cvirtue-ally\u201d, weren\u2019t in any position to criticize), but also that anyone who continued the reputation would answer to me. The big fly in this ointment is, some of \u201cthose girls\u201d\u00a0really were<\/em>\u00a0 \u201cthose girls\u201d.\u00a0 I never dated them, though I pitied them for their lack of self-esteem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0 YES, I was \u201cunusual\u201d, \u201ca loner\u201d, a \u201cbit of a jerk\u201d <\u2013We\u2019ll just let that cover it, okay? But I would like to think that I upheld the honor my Father instilled in me. ALL women MUST be believed, yes.\u00a0 \u00a0As well, ALL men MUST be believed. After all, isn\u2019t \u201cgender equality\u201d the guidon of the feminist movement?<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0 I will say this: IF judge Kavanaugh DID what it is being proffered he did, he\u2019d have been in the majority of H.S. boys with their first taste of vodka since the very first Prom.\u00a0 Ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n F.L.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *Several students were either direct immigrants or direct first-generation Italian.\u00a0 Some were from Portugal, a few from Spain and several Greeks.\u00a0 Oh.\u00a0 That one kid from England, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n **O.F.D.I. \u201cOrfani Figlii D\u2019Italiani\u201d, the \u201cSons Of Italy\u201d.\u00a0 They ran an orphanage. at the edge of town.\u00a0 DeMolay is a Masonic Youth Group and the \u201cCYO\u201d was the \u201cCatholic Youth Organization\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (This essay also appears on Lou’s personal blog)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I grew up in an area with a couple of Catholic schools, (that went to at least 8th grade), 5 public elementary schools, a public Jr., (7th &8th grades),\u00a0 H.S. and a LARGE public H.S. Yes, the single largest \u201cethnicity\u201d in town was people of Italian, (or at least Mediterranean*), heritage.\u00a0 For the most part,<\/p>\n