Out of the Loop Group
Nathan B. Spooner
Sherman E. Burroughs High School
in the1950s: cheerleaders, athletes, the happening people. These were groups of
friends, popular well liked and smooth.
Then the nerds, the smart college
bound ones, those with thick glasses, pens and slide rules in their shirt
pockets and all the other stuff, they made up a smaller yet very stable group.
My favorite group, of which I
apparently became an honorary member, could be called the “Out of the Loop
Group”.
Oh sure, I said hi to others,
played in band and did some sports. Somehow though, I didn’t hang out that
much, didn’t flirt with the opposite gender, tried to sit where the teachers
would not notice me.
I remember one time asking Carol
if she’d like to go to the dance with me. She looked up from her hallway locker
and said “No thanks”.
That’s the only time I asked a
high school girl for a date.
Next year, Justine asked me to go
to the Sock-Hop coming up in a few weeks. I agreed and in the interim she fell
in love with a friend of mine named Tom. We all went to the event, she danced
with me once and then spent the rest of the night with her love.
Somehow it never bothered me.
A few years later in the early
1960s I attended UC Berkeley, graduated with a degree in philosophy 1966 and
pretty much got caught up with the events I supposedly missed in high school.
Both experiences somehow complimented each other. Sherman E. Burroughs High
School, thank you for all you provided. UC Berkeley, thank you as well. The
Summer of Love 1967, Haight-Ashbury, free concerts in the parks, free lots of
stuff, oh yeah.