Were you doing anything stupid?

Story one of many of my childhood memories. I'm sorry, I didn't have a shitty childhood like so many movie characters. At times it was lonely, but boohoo. For the whole it was great. I didn't have a pedophile as an Uncle. Mum wasn't an alcoholic, and I wasn't beaten senseless by a deranged Dad.

As kids we loved to do, well not dangerous shit, but shit that was fun and 'could' cause a lot of self inflicted pain. Here is one of these stories.

Primary (Elementary) School. We have ourselves a 3 storied tower to play on. (When last back in the area the tower has been dismantled, deemed too dangerous by modern standards. HEY, nobody died!). There is a fireman's pole running from the top down to where it was fastened in place with an old tire filled with concrete. We would have fun sliding down as fast as you can and breaking at the last possible moment. It was even more fun when we went head first.

On this particular day, it had been raining before so the fireman's pole was a bit more slippery. So Jethro decides to go head first. Down he slides faster than ever. But...his hand brakes work not on a slippery surface. Up comes the concrete filled old tire at full speed. He can't strech is arms out to lessen the impact as that would make him fall faster. So using his face as a cushion...WaaHUmmmPP.

Oh boy did he cry. Blood was everywhere. His lip was split right through by his teeth. Blood nose like a fountain. Front teeth chipped. So off he wanders to the sick bay, with a throng of eager classmates wanting a look at the spectacle.

Out comes the principle to check on the commotion, more like a school parade to the sick bay and I can still hear the words to this day which still make me laugh.

Mr Dunn: "Now Jethro, were you doing anything stupid?"
With blood stained mouth and tears in eyes, gasping for breath between wails of pain...
Jethro: "Sniff, sniff, Nooooooo"

Ahhh, schooldays.