1964-65 – Junior Year Part 1 – Memoir Continued

Orchestra rehearsal, first period: Seating was being assigned for each of the orchestra’s sections. In the violin section, we were moving up the seniority chain, and the first and second chairs were up for grabs. Both Guy and I thought we’d be sitting one and two. Unfortunately, we think that Mr. Codey played politics, favoring Peggy and Ellen, who were awarded first and second violin chairs, respectively. Were they better instrumentalists than we were? Maybe, but I always thought not, though I suppose that could just be my vested interest showing. It’s interesting that I don’t remember ever seeing either of them at the City Auditions, which we participated in every year… I ended up with third chair and Guy was assigned first chair of the second violins. That was the last straw for Guy, who quit violin lessons and the orchestra by the end of the school year. He was in a band with a couple of his friends and starting to play in clubs in Lorain and Elyria. His friend’s dad used to drive them to and from their gigs. Guy was playing electric guitar by then, while I was still plunking away on the acoustic and a little on an old electric bass Dad picked up somewhere.

I was also starting to get into a little trouble that would continue through graduation. My life had so much going on that I seldom (if ever) did homework. That and I had a real philosophical problem with ‘homework’ in general. To me it was all just ‘bussy work’, which was wasting my already limited time. I could see it if I didn’t ‘get’ the lesson. But I always did, always got As and Bs on my tests, but my teachers would cut my grade in half for non-participation and incomplete assignments (homework). Was I back to my old habit of staring out the window? No; my test scores proved that. I just didn’t waste what little time I had on homework.

To be Continued

–LE