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Behind Socialist Bars
Everything “goes its socialist way” (Wolf Biermann): Get up, wash, breakfast. Fiddle with plugs, yard time, lunch. Fiddle with plugs, sing, ponder. Dinner, read a book, bedtime.
Today I think back to my first day of school. In September 1972, the big day finally arrived.
Little Thommy started first grade. The brand-new school was less than 300 meters from home.
It was right next to the child's home where I had been living from Monday to Friday since 1968.
During breaks, I could see Mrs. Zander and talk to her on the way home.
That only changed when we moved to a much larger apartment in 1975 and I had to change schools in fourth grade.
My school class was great in the truest sense of the word.
While we were “only” 16 children in our group at the child's home who had to get along with each other day and night, we were twice as many students in class 1a.
Half of them, like me, stayed at the after-school care center in the afternoon and didn't go home until the evening.
The others were “latchkey kids” like my brother and went home after lunch.
The best thing was my goodie bag, which I had discovered in my mother's bedroom days before I started school.
It was almost as big as me. Finally, it was mine. By Sunday, I had already eaten half of it. By Wednesday, it was empty.
My brother knew how I was when it came to things like that and always left me some of whatever he was eating.
Because I was always hungry. Especially for sweets. For some reason, I could never control myself.
Maybe I had a complex. At least that's what “Uncle Rudi” said:
“Stupidity eats a lot” was his saying when I tucked in unashamedly. I had to listen to that until 1982.
That reminds me of the “Fressduett” (Eating Duet) by Reinhard Lakomy, alias “LACKY,” with Angelika Mann, “die Lütte” (the little one):
“Sie: Ich esse für mein Leben gern (She: I love to eat) /
Er: Man sieht es Dir auch an ... (He: You can see that ...) /
Beide: Mir doch egal, mir doch egal (Both: I don't care, I don't care) /
Wenn's schmeckt, schlagen wir zu (If it tastes good, we'll dig in) ...”.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tjannot.substack.com/subscribe
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By Tommy H. JannotEverything “goes its socialist way” (Wolf Biermann): Get up, wash, breakfast. Fiddle with plugs, yard time, lunch. Fiddle with plugs, sing, ponder. Dinner, read a book, bedtime.
Today I think back to my first day of school. In September 1972, the big day finally arrived.
Little Thommy started first grade. The brand-new school was less than 300 meters from home.
It was right next to the child's home where I had been living from Monday to Friday since 1968.
During breaks, I could see Mrs. Zander and talk to her on the way home.
That only changed when we moved to a much larger apartment in 1975 and I had to change schools in fourth grade.
My school class was great in the truest sense of the word.
While we were “only” 16 children in our group at the child's home who had to get along with each other day and night, we were twice as many students in class 1a.
Half of them, like me, stayed at the after-school care center in the afternoon and didn't go home until the evening.
The others were “latchkey kids” like my brother and went home after lunch.
The best thing was my goodie bag, which I had discovered in my mother's bedroom days before I started school.
It was almost as big as me. Finally, it was mine. By Sunday, I had already eaten half of it. By Wednesday, it was empty.
My brother knew how I was when it came to things like that and always left me some of whatever he was eating.
Because I was always hungry. Especially for sweets. For some reason, I could never control myself.
Maybe I had a complex. At least that's what “Uncle Rudi” said:
“Stupidity eats a lot” was his saying when I tucked in unashamedly. I had to listen to that until 1982.
That reminds me of the “Fressduett” (Eating Duet) by Reinhard Lakomy, alias “LACKY,” with Angelika Mann, “die Lütte” (the little one):
“Sie: Ich esse für mein Leben gern (She: I love to eat) /
Er: Man sieht es Dir auch an ... (He: You can see that ...) /
Beide: Mir doch egal, mir doch egal (Both: I don't care, I don't care) /
Wenn's schmeckt, schlagen wir zu (If it tastes good, we'll dig in) ...”.
This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit tjannot.substack.com/subscribe