In 6th grade, he was a boy cop at the North Pole. The North Pole was the corner of 3rd and Magnolia. The Pappas home was there. A very busy corner for cars, but not many kids were on their way to Lafayette School. It was also the best place to be, as it was the longest walk back to school and a good excuse for always being late. Everyday. Especially when you want to be late. Which was every day.
The only problem with that outpost was the kids walking to St Paul’s. They would disrespect the authority of the white strap (badge? What do you call that thing we wore?) Bullying a boy cop is not a good thing.
One guy was always trying to push us around. Of course, he was much larger than Gary who was bigger than me.
Gary designed a plan to fix this. One day, the bully came up to start pushing him around. I knelt down behind the bully on all fours, and Gary pushed him. The kid tumbled over me and hit the ground hard. He never bothered us again.
While we didn’t have many classes together or pal around after that, there was always a big smile when we made eye contact. Gary was a good, easy-going guy and more carefree than most.
James Scott
Gary came from Shamokin Pennsylvania.
In 6th grade, he was a boy cop at the North Pole. The North Pole was the corner of 3rd and Magnolia. The Pappas home was there. A very busy corner for cars, but not many kids were on their way to Lafayette School. It was also the best place to be, as it was the longest walk back to school and a good excuse for always being late. Everyday. Especially when you want to be late. Which was every day.
The only problem with that outpost was the kids walking to St Paul’s. They would disrespect the authority of the white strap (badge? What do you call that thing we wore?) Bullying a boy cop is not a good thing.
One guy was always trying to push us around. Of course, he was much larger than Gary who was bigger than me.
Gary designed a plan to fix this. One day, the bully came up to start pushing him around. I knelt down behind the bully on all fours, and Gary pushed him. The kid tumbled over me and hit the ground hard. He never bothered us again.
While we didn’t have many classes together or pal around after that, there was always a big smile when we made eye contact. Gary was a good, easy-going guy and more carefree than most.