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Tuesday, May 17, 2016

I Failed Gym Class



More than once too. I wasn't much of an athlete in the first place, although I loved gymnastics. The whole blind-as-a-bat-thing interfered with all sports played with balls....and alas, most of them are.I could run pretty fast and jump pretty high, but catching balls or hitting what I was throwing at...not so much.

However, I was a tough little thing and could perform with a reasonable level of sufficiency. I probably could have gotten by and passed...somehow....

So why did I fail? Because I was terribly shy and would not, could not, undress and shower with other girls.  I "forgot" my required gym uniform. Often. Daily in fact. 

The uniform wasn't the only way I skated around the issue either. It was possible to hide in plain sight. The whole invisible act, kinda like an ostrich. Even today I am a pretty good hider in full view and still not be noticed sort. I get stepped over in lines and nearly knocked off stairs all the time, by taller, more aggressive folks.

You could also wet your hair in the sink and sneak off between the lockers, more or less unnoticed, pretending to already be done with the shower. I was never a popular kid so I got away with it, but the whole missing uniform/missing class/sitting on the bleachers reading a book thing was hard on my grade.

I managed to graduate from high school and get in a couple of years of college without ever showering in public. (The one exception to my nearly perfect record was a trip to swim at the Y as an adult. And I still shudder.)

So I failed gym. My other grades were generally adequate to keep me from being held back so it didn't really matter.

I admit to being a child of the fifties, an era much more closed and private and secret than today. I am utterly an introvert. However, I suspect that there are plenty of girls today, not unlike myself, who are shy, and careful, and private about themselves. 

What on earth are they doing to do when boys are added to the misery of those public showers?

I hate to even think.

5 comments:

Cathy said...

Amen! Amen!

I had very similar experiences in gym class. Depressing even to think back.

Jan said...

The world has gone insane.

Terry and Linda said...

I hated gym class for just the same reasons. I agree with Jan...the world has gone insane.

Linda

ellie k said...

I was so poor in gym class I was always the last one to get picked for teams. I went to a very small school and we did not have to shower. Now I am old and have to push myself to do mild exercise. I need to get a life really.

threecollie said...

Cathy, we have come so far in self-confidence in so many ways....but for me...not that one. lol

Jan, it has. Alas.

Linda, good thing there are a few reasonably sane folks, such as ourselves, left.....lol

Ellie, Likewise, I was always last. Today I am so glad I discovered walking. I can do it...low impact...and I have come to enjoy it, as well as getting much fitter. It is nice to be able to use the phone to count steps, which gives me goals and benchmarks.