My story post 55

 

I was in the 8^th grade… what they use to call Jr. High.  There were different groups of kids or kids that identified with a certain group at school, most likely no different now.

 

You’d wear certain clothes and comb your hair a certain way depending on what group you wanted to be like. Me? I was a surfer. The opposite of a surfer was a greaser.  I don’t remember having anything against greasers but they generally didn’t like surfers.

 

So one day I was getting my work project from the loft above the wood shop… I took shop like every semester.. mostly wood shop.  While in the loft this one morning one of the greaser guys, Jim, came up to get something when I was up there. 

Greasers were tough guys, and Jim was definitely a tough guy. Nobody would ever bother him ‘casue if they did? Things wouldn’t go to well if they did.  So Jim sees me in the loft and says “ So Ryder… surfer” as he moves my way.. “ funny I find you up here”.  I’m thinking ‘oh shhhht’. Not that I’d done anything but, it’s Jim, and if he don’t like you…. and I couldn’t say if he liked me or not.  The way he was coming toward me was like he didn’t like me. Shoot I was a surfer and he was a greaser, so how could he like me?

 

At that moment I was a bit intimated as he started to give me a hard time, as well as afraid I was about to get it.  Then.. he stopped a said, “nah, Ryder you’re ok.  And ya know, if anybody ever gives you a hard time just let me know”  I said ‘uh, ok.’ And we came down the loft stairs into the shop together. 

 

After that we were friends,  or at least friendly. Not that I’d hang with the greasers during lunch or anything but at least we could say hello to one another in the hall ways.

 

Then some months later there was this guy that started going out of his way to hassle me.  If I was walking down the hall he would make sure he’d give me the shoulder wack as he passed.  One time he got me good enough to stop me in my tracks.. then gave me the tough look and said “ What Ryder, you gonna do something.”?

 

A few days later I happen see Jim.  Remembering what he said to me in wood shop I ask if he knows of this guy that’s been hassling me. He says “ yeah I know that guy why”?  “well he’s been hassling me lately”  Jims says “really”.  “ yeah, why, I don’t know” Then Jim says “ he can’t do that” and walks away. 

 

After that I never mentioned it to Jim again and he never said anything to me about it either. But, That guy never bothered me again either.  As a surfer, it was nice to have a tough guy on your side.

 

D.R.

 

Surfers can be pretty tough too.  Imagine what kind of tough you’ve got to be to take one of these boards down to the beach and surf waves at least head high or better?