IN PLAIN SIGHT

Seventh grade, for me and my friends, was a time to start branching out a bit and begin to find our selves. Until this point, we had pretty much done what we were told, when we were told and there were no questions asked, but we were out of elementary school now. We were “the big kids,” new teenagers and it was the turn of the decade. 1960 was OUR time. We understood that our teenage years were going to be a time to rebel and we were heading into “the 60's”, which was, as we came to find out, a time of major change for our society and our world, and, we were to be part of it. That was why, when I was asked to “skip” school with David and Tommy, I made the conscious decision to join the festivities and rebel. Tommy had already cut school for a full week and David was wrapping up his second week. Perhaps that should have been my cue to opt out. Obviously, somebody, at some point, would notice how long they had been missing and come looking for them. This was my first day. I had never done anything so bold in my life, which had, of course, only been the prior 12 years. Not much time or experience to make much of a mark on the world of rule breaking. But, I was 13 and cocky and, as with most new teenagers, I knew absolutely everything. I left for school, as usual, and cut through the yard across the street, crossed to the actual school building and kept going, past the school, to David's house. His parents both worked and we knew we were, essentially, home free. A developing 13 year old brain doesn't have enough wiring to be too logical, so, the fact that David and Tommy seemed, to school officials, to have dropped off the face of the earth until they showed up on the playground after school each day never occurred to me. It also never entered our minds that someone may pick up a phone and try to locate them. For all authorities knew, I was out sick and didn't even know David and Tommy. The phone rang. David, in a valiant attempt at deflecting any obstacles to our extra “play day,” deepened his voice as much as a 13 year old can. “Hello,” he said, trying to sound like a parent. I realized that the “jig was up” when I heard his next words, “This is my father.” The folks at the school picked up on that as well, which showed us why they were in charge and we weren't. They sent, what was then known as the Truant Officer. His name was Mr. Digan and we were all intimidated by him. The one person you never wanted to encounter during the school day was Mr. Digan. Within 20 minutes of the phone call, which, by the way, still didn't clue us in to the fact that we had just been busted, the doorbell rang. It was Mr. Digan and his minions and they were out for some 7th grade blood. David and Tommy had been out for weeks between them and knew the good hiding places in David's house. I did not. I glanced around the room and saw a ping pong table. Using all of the reasoning I could possibly muster up at that age, I sat under the table, which, of course, was wide open on all 4 sides. Stevie Wonder could have found me. Mr. Digan did. They brought me home and, in their ultimate wisdom, my parents told me that I was not to hang out with David and/or Tommy ever again. The punishment lasted about a day. Both David and Tommy were in my Boy Scout troop and on my baseball team. We had a game that day and a Scout meeting the next. I suppose their efforts were valiant at best. I learned a couple of very important lessons that day. I never skipped school, ever again and the next time I tried to hide from authorities, it would be anywhere but under ping pong table.....in plain sight.