WALLOP!!

For me, local used to mean Sheffield and no other writer summed up the feel of Yorkshire than Barry Hines (above). The movie adaption of his novel "Kes" by Ken Loach used always be on the telly on a Saturday afternoon and it hit me close to the bone. As a young man I really identified with the main character. I was a skinny runt just like him. Below is a fight scene from the film. Pretty typical of the kind of thing I went through at least once a week for my first few years at Rowlinson Comprehensive. Except no teachers ever broke up any fight I was in. Out of about 17 boys in my class and I had a "scrap" with all but two or three of them. Usually the fights started over their liberal use of the "P" word or some other BS form of racial abuse. I got my nose broken in a fight one day and no one even noticed when I went home! Another time got my head put through the glass window of a cabinet but I remained undamaged while my attackers hands were cut to pieces. And after that the kids kept me off him! Like I was the nutter. Never did get that.



I got used to having to stand up for myself. After I while I hit back harder and harder. It was put up or get trodden on - that simple. I remember the last fight I had was when I was around thirteen and a half against a kid almost six foot tall. We set the fight at the tunnel leading into school. To get down to the tunnel you had to go down a ramp not stairs. I let him and the crowd get there before me (partly because I was scared and wondering if I could get out of it), eventually realizing I had no choice and that I had to show up I went over. Instead of walking down the ramp I came running down the ramp at full speed, agressive as I could, screaming at the top of my voice and jumped right on top of the guy with a big wallop to his head and he went down right away. Psych out. I didn't think it would work but knew of little else I could do to move the odds in my favor. I also knew if I didn't fight the level of tormenting would rise and rise. Of course, the lanky git got up and I got beat about quite a bit once he was up, but he was stunned and couldn't do as much damage as he might have been able to before the shock. People broke it up. They could see it just wasn't going to really go anywhere lethal. Maybe he was the guy who broke my nose. I honestly can't remember any more. I think he could well have been. I know one thing. The fights ended after that. Ah ... school days. Thankfully they are a long long way away.



VIOLENCE SUCKS