Re: House Members Look to Ban Bilingual Ballots

On Fri, 19 May 2006 10:24:58 -1000, Alvin Toda <aet@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Fri, 19 May 2006 03:24:59 GMT, Rumpelstiltskin
<PleaseDoNotReplyByEmail@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Thu, 18 May 2006 09:38:16 -1000, Alvin Toda <aet@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Wed, 17 May 2006 18:59:03 GMT, Rumpelstiltskin
<PleaseDoNotReplyByEmail@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Could have been, but wasn't. We're talking the late '50's
and early '60's here. There was no such thing as any support
for gay kids, particularly not from teachers or counselors. And
sure as hell not from the kids. My 18-year-old niece now is
straight but has some gay-guy friends at the same high school
I went to. Times have changed.

Yes. I recall those years. But there is still something that you could
have done. Perhaps learning to overcome that fear might have been a
great experience and worthy educational awakening.



Good advice, and if I could go back to my 16-year-old self and
tell myself that, I would - even before I advised myself to take
steroids. At 16 though, I wasn't up to it all by myself, without
ever having had any hint there was a better life somewhere. I
was a "stranger in a strange land." Unfortunately neither my
35-year-old self nor anything like it wasn't around to tell my
16-year-old self the score.

But that's part of the research to learn about your situation. I think
it might have been the fear of others finding out, more than the lack
of overt gay role models.



Both. They go together. There were no role models. Maybe
I might have found some if I came out, but they certainly weren't
visible at all in my environment. I never heard anything but
bad things about gay people.




What I'm suggesting
is perhaps anonymous correspondence since you write so well. You could
have written to the newspaper, to your minister, to the school
principal, to the school newspaper, etc..?


I was already an atheist, in fact I have no memory of ever
being otherwise, so a minister is out of the question. I'd had
my "adolescent rebellion" at age 15, which consisted mostly
of refusing to go to church anymore because "it's stupid and I
don't see how anyone could believe it" (not necessarily an
exact quote but very close). I can't imagine "coming out" to
any authority figure in those days, much less the school
newspaper. Don't forget, I was 16 years old and entirely alone.
I had friends, but I was faking it with friends and foes alike, so
I was just acting at life rather than living. You can't expect a
naive 16-year-old, and I certainly was naive, to think like an
adult and to know what an adult who's been out in the world
would know. I had no idea there was any other way of
looking at things than the way the people and the kids around
me looked at them.

Well that's the point of writing an anonymous letter to an adult. For
example, an anonymous request asking a newspaper editor to publish
some news stories about homosexuals in town, or well known national
ones who you might also want to write to. Perhaps he might decide to
answer your letter in an editorial, or invite comment from other
readers. This is a really primitive news group discussion. You needn't
have waited for the internet.



As noted elsewhere, you're asking a lot of a 16-year-old kid.




Perhaps the notariety might
have attracted the attention of an interested liberal and he might
have offered his contact number for help? But even so isn't there some
suicide prevention hotlines with well-trained volunteers? We have them
in Honolulu.


I was never seriously drawn to suicide, and I don't think there
was any such thing as a suicide hotline in those days. As soon
as I heard about the kids at Columbine High School shooting
the place up, though, thoughts went through my mind.

Not necessarily suicide. IIRC they say that many people who are just
depressed and need someone to listen will call. You could get some
anonymous free advice here.



I take it you're not gay, and didn't grow up in the times and
environment that I did, or it seems to me you would know
better than to expect so much of a gay kid brought up in
the world as it was then.



A well-known private high school here not only has academic standards
for graduation, but they also have one for physical fitness. But there
is the educational goal of schools for caring, mature kids in the
public schools as well. Why limit your advancement in grade to
academics when you were failing in other areas?



I didn't relate at all to most of the kids. I'd never played
sports in America. Skipping grades wouldn't have made me
happier or gotten me more friends, but at least it would have
made education itself more interesting. As it was, I got
straight A's without putting in any effort.

A sport might have helped? I think arround you time, freesbees became
popular.




Gosh no, frisbees weren't invented yet, I think! I was in
high school 1958-1962.



?Almost anyone can do that, but I guess you need a partner for
that. But how about the drama club since you liked writing and
English. I helped out a little. I find that I have a hard time
memorising dialogue, but being stage manager is easy.



As previously noted, I didn't relate to and wasn't a part of
the school social environment.

I don't think we had a drama club, but I'm sure I wouldn't
have joined it anyway.

 
"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom: it is the
argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves" -- Wm. Pitt the Younger
.

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