Life After 1945  No 3

  I rember  on one day I was given the cane for being acused of hitting a girl, { let me say hear and now  I would never hit a girl at all.} but what happened was when changing classes for the next  lesson we had to  walk along  the passage way to the next classroom there wa another  class changing from theirs to another,and our two line  passed each other,I saw a girl that I liked in the other line,and we had talked about  having a date,sometime, and as we passed I put out my hand to touch her as we passed,but the head master saw this and thought I had hit her,so ordered me to his office where I recieved  ten of the best on my hands,there was no good trying to explane what  had taken place because  he woulnt have listened anyway,and you were  always accused of lieing any way,so I had sore hands for best part of the week,and on one occasion one boy had to be  taken to the hospital after recieving the cane  from this head master.we heard that after this happened the boys farther went to the school and draged the headmaster from his office,and gave him a beating,  but nothing was ever heard  of.regards this, This headmaster was well known for his cruelty,and he was a sadistic man,I was glad that my time at school was nearing its end,and I would be able to look for  some work,of some kind I dont know what  as I had not really given it much thought,At last the day arrives when all those leaving school have to present themselves at the to the main hall,to recieve their school leaving certifacates and shake hands with the teachers who have had to put up with us through the last years,so thats it I am now adult enough at fourteen years of age to enter into the real world, prividing I can get a job that is,in our area,  most jobs are either working on the land ,in a shop,or office,I would not be able to work in an office  because of my lack of education,and I dont want to work on a farm as I know what this entails having relations who have them,anyway I dont like farming.My Mum says there is a job advertised for work in a Dental supply company as a counter hand, and sujests that perhaps I should apply for this;and go for the interview,this  appeals to me too as its different to most jobs,unless you have a really good  education and could become a solicitor or something but you would also have to have parents who could afford to pay for you to be endentured to one.I think this is around one hundred pounds so is out  of reach for most families,so I go to see the manager of this dental shop,I  explane to him that I am not very good with Maths but he say he will give me a chance to prove myself, and I can start work on the following Monday after  leaving school.