In ’65 I was in the Sixth Form and fell foul of the no-smoking rule. A prefect reported me when he wasn’t supposed to. It was an unwritten rule – Sixth Formers are not reported by prefects. Even the authorities (priests) tacitly acknowledged it. I remember that prefect later trying to befriend me and half apologising for his action, so I guess the First Prefect (a priest) must have let him know that he’d transgressed. But still, they had to take action once I’d been reported. So I had to get my beating. But everyone was horribly embarassed about a Sixth Former getting whacked, and Fr X, who had to do it, made a private arrangement with me to have it done outside the usual time so that no juniors would see me going for it – a concession for which I was pathetically grateful.
Wrong time and Wrong place3
