Rage against…

Don’t worry. This is not a political rant. But I am going to mention Bernie Sanders. I recently saw a Facebook post of Bernie with the words underneath…you are never too old to rage against the machine. I am a big Bernie Sanders fan. I tend to like people who rage against the machine.  I don’t mean rage in a violent way. I just mean people who stand up to challenge the status quo.

That got me thinking of how that concept got into my character.  It must have been put there in my childhood. I know it started with my dad. I wrote about him before. He always supported the underdog and had little regard for those who think they are better, because of money or career.

Teachers were another influence. I have also written before about my sixth grade teacher, Walter Dorward.  I wrote about his age, his senility, and his cluelessness. But, he was maybe the first example, in my school life, of learning how it is important to challenge authority. Here is that story. We had a reading program called SRA. We read stories, answered questions, and moved up levels. One story we read opined that dogs had no feelings toward their owners. The author believed that they only hung around their owners because they are a source of food.  Some of the girls in our class objected to this opinion. Kay Kester, who sadly is no longer with us, led the charge against the author. Mr. Dorward encouraged this and found the author’s address. Letters were written in protest, and sent to the writer.  Our teacher could have just let this slide. But he didn’t. Rage against…

Coach Cassebaum, our football and wrestling coach, came to Slatington specifically to rage against the normal way we did sports for decades.  His unorthodox ways brought life to our school and to our athletic programs. He taught us that if you work hard, and challenge the norm, good things could happen.

Having gone to high school in the ’60s, English teachers were influencers of the way we think about standards and culture. I can remember, vividly. analyzing the music of The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, and others, all with an eye toward challenging the status quo.  Thank you Paul Turner, Carol Turner, and Edie Roeder for that!

Sara Miller, our German and Latin teacher, taught us that things don’t always have to be done the same way. She went out of her way to give the less popular, the less extroverted, a chance to shine.  As an introvert, I especially thank her for that.

I hope this got you thinking about people from your childhood who influenced you. I didn’t even get to the people from popular culture who had a great influence. Thank you John, Paul, George, and Ringo…and others.

One last mention of rage to end this post. Dylan Thomas’s most famous poem is “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night”. As I get older I am adopting his philosophy from the poem, spelled out in the first few lines. Do not go gentle into that good night / Old age should rave and burn at close of day; / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Kind of deep, I know! But at a minimum it means I will be writing this blog for decades to come!  Fingers crossed!