EASY TO BE HARD /CH.9/ Pt. 6/ Silly High School

It was the fall of ’62 and we were going to make our world a perfect oyster.

Nancy had a very up tight attitude toward the opposite sex. I felt that that this was a defense mechanism, and told her so. “If you don’t learn about the opposite sex, Missy, you shall just shrivel up and perish.” Unlike me, boy crazy and all over the place, she dated very few guys, and the few dates that she did go out on, were double dates, fixed up by me.

Immediately, on the first day of school Nance, Judy and I were heavily targeted by every social club. It was a rush to be a top rush, very cool indeed. At that time, it was a very critical matter, getting into a club, a must do, even though clubs were restricted by the school. Nancy's older sister, Fran, had been a Co Cee and my sister Geri had been an Atemet. The Atemets straight up ruled the social scene at John Marshall, which automatically plugged one into the other top clubs from other schools, like Hollywood High. The rowdy CoCees were second, then the Gamas and last, were the Cordells.

"Rushing," was basically a courtship, and lasted a month. Nance and I made both Atemets and Co Cees, but of course we chose the latter. We went through grueling initiation as pledges, doing everything we were told. This consisted of everything from swiping blank report cards, to doing other member’s homework, or dressing like a fool. If things got to harsh we could file a complaint with the club

Hell night was another matter. Nancy and I sat together, rigid with fright until midnight, the designated time for pick-up. As soon as I opened our front door, a scarf was tied over my eyes. "Get in the car, Bitches, and then each got a Tampax shoved in our mouths. Was that sweet Julie's voice I just heard? Once we reach a certain destination, the members tied us up with rope, and poured thick vile mixtures on our bodies, disgusting oily drinks in our mouths and spiders on our faces. The final insult was the "interrogation," where we had to answer any question thrown at us, or be expelled from the club, right then and there. Basically, this was all a part of the price one paid for high school popularity. Mike just laughed at me and thought the whole thing was so stupid, but that did stop him from eventually entering a guys club called the Savants.

In spite of all this activity, I felt stifled. My studies bored me, my weekly religious classes, infuriated me, and my home life depressed me. Also, it was time for me to start working at a real job. This decree set forth by my mother was extremely clear. As soon as I entered high school, I was never to be without employment.

So, my first job was at the celebrated Italian bakery/coffee shop/opera house by the name of Sarno's, on Vermont Ave. The Sarno family was friends with my family and it was understood that my sisters and I, each in our own time, would work there.

	catching a bus	hah! So you had to have an after school job too..I worked at a theater on Colorado Blvd when I went to Pasadena High School. Glad you didn't get TSS from those Tampax's shoved in your mouths!! ...wha?wha,..what? John Marshall was a jr. high school in Pasadena...hmm. Although, Pasadena is close by, it's still distance from Hollywood, so it couldn't be the same school. Although later, after JHS, all that HS social hierarchy doo-rah stuff became an afterthought, soon as I started going to Continuation HS...thank goodness! Interesting to finally hear what I avoided. I went to 3 high schools...Pasadena, Blair, and then CT (Continuation)...never heard of this in high school that much..veddy intadesting Paula. Posted by catching a bus on Thursday, June 24, 2010 - 9:06 PM [Reply to this] [Remove] [Block User]

	Paula Paula Servetti	Well Thanks catching a bus..( Ha that just cracks me up.) Anyway.....it didn't last too long with meeeee as you shall seeee! Where in the hell are you? Posted by Paula on Thursday, June 24, 2010 - 11:16 PM [Reply to this] [Remove] [Block User]

	MusicDiva Music Lover	Good Gawd, high school is hard enough without all that crap going on! Guess I was lucky that I didn't have to go thru any of that in small-town Iowa, heartland of the Midwest...but we did have our dramas too, with trading our guys around, willingly or unwillingly. What a life you've led, kiddo! Posted by MusicDiva on Saturday, June 26, 2010 - 11:46 PM [Reply to this] [Remove] [Block User]

	Paula Paula Servetti	Gosh, I thought all highschools did that ... Anna that sounds just horrid.. the trading guys around thing....Horrid, worse than any hell night could ever be./I never have heard of that! Posted by Paula on Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 11:48 AM [Reply to this] [Remove] [Block User]

	MusicDiva Music Lover	Never had any clubs (pre-cursor to today's gangs?) except for 4-H and FHA, but there were many incidents of someone going steady with someone only to find out the next weekend that they're going out with someone else. 'Musical chairs' so to speak, or, in these cases, musical class rings wrapped in angora.... Posted by MusicDiva on Monday, June 28, 2010 - 10:52 AM [Reply to this] [Remove] [Block User]

Paula Paula Servetti

P.S. to Music Lover . . .When I said I thought all schools did that I was referring to the club thing... Posted by Paula on Sunday, June 27, 2010 - 11:50 AM [Reply to this] [Remove] [Block User] Raymond Brinkworth, Gary Hill, Callen TheVoice and 4 others like this. PauLa Servetti Well , I got deleted,/ Thank-you...... June 25 at 12:19pm · · Jeren Corseau Why do we 'like' this? that isn't right. June 25 at 1:35pm · · PauLa Servetti Cause we are all nuts! Sunday at 11:13am · · PauLa Servetti spiders on my face were the worse, but I have a feeling it might have been some other kind of insect, but we were blindfolded so... to me...spiders it was.....I have a terrible fear of them. Well, black widows. Sunday at 11:15am · · Tom Stevens Oddly enough, the work of a writer/poet/artist that depicts the author's most gut-wrenching life moments is often exactly what connects first with the public. Especially if it's framed nicely. Sunday at 12:01pm · · Write a comment...