class enemies

I recently checked into the Verdun Library and it seems they’ve cleared out a lot of their old fiction,although some of the collection of Dostoyeski’s works,the Garnett translation,are still there
I probably read through most of that collection in 1962 when I turned sixteen and was finally permitted-officially permitted-to take out books designated for Adult Reading only
But despite being a ‘big reader’ as they say down on the Avenues,I flunked just about everything in school except History and Literature and had to repeat a couple of grades
I remember when I got the required Aptitude Test in grade seven that determined what scholastic level I was to be placed in high school,the teacher remarked,almost if talking to herself,that it seemed strange that my test points for literacy were amongst the highest in the school,because otherwise all other indications had me placed,where I eventually was placed,in one of the lower levels amongst those that would not go onto university
Her remark,made while handing me back the test result,was more a comment on the test result rather than a comment meant for me
“Oh..well..”she said and walked away
Maybe she didn’t have time to be human because of the size of the student load but that didn’t make her behavior any less belittling to me or to herself.
Public humiliation that’s what public education is when you’re working class