Ok Im starting a thread, or perhaps nobody will care. But I have to say this out loud because it really happened. This is about the rivalry between those of us who by accident of birth grew up in Wayland and those of us who by accident of birth grew up in Cochituate. For me, the rivalry was defined between North Wayland and Cochituate. This is something that was defined for me not by any residents of either part of town, or by my peers, but by a Wayland High School teacher. Yes, its true that a teacher brought it to my attention. I have to tell you during my high school years I always had friends and boyfriends from both sides of town. I promise you I never thought anything about the two sides of town. I never even thought or paid attention to any differences. They were just people whom I liked and admired. But one day, this very important day, I was standing in the smoking area talking to a young man who happened to be a Cochituate denizen. He and I had always been friends (not romantically so) and so we enjoyed a chat from time to time. Soon after our conversation I was drawn aside by a teacher I trusted and had often confided in. The teacher said Margaret I am concerned about the company you are keeping. I blinked a couple of times at this teacher and said, articulately, huh? The teacher went on to express concern that I was perhaps keeping company with people from the wrong side of town and that I should be careful about who I was seen with. This teacher was absolutely sincere, and I think sought, from that teachers perspective, to protect me. It had never occurred to me that there was anything that I needed protection from. People from both sides of town had treated my well, and badly. There did not seem to be a part of town that was involved in terms of any inappropriate behavior one way or another. But that is when the thing reared its ugly head. I was a very impressionable 15 at the time. I went home very troubled that day. I tried to forget it but it was difficult to forget. I just hope it never happened to anybody else. But if it did, then I am sorry, because it was a bigoted and inappropriate point of view. I worked that out eventually but I cant say that I worked it out completely back then. Hugs and apologies to anybody I may have, during my confusion, offended.
Posted on: Mon, 31 Mar 2014 22:20:12 +0000
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