Sakespeare was bearable.
All the subjects my father chose for me to study were so that I would be able to have the best chance in life...to go to university and have a good career.
In his haste he overlooked that after 3 years at high school when I sat the 'Intermediate Certificate' exam at age 15 in 1961...even though I passed every subject the average was about 70%...nowhere good enough to attend university.
What was not bearable was how hard the subjects became in the next two years leading up to The Leaving Certificate (Graduation if you like) after 5 years of high school.
No graduation ceremonies, you just did the exams, left school, think they posted you the results in the mail.
If you passed...50%+ they sent you a nice certificate to frame.
I didn't get one.
Oh well, such is life.
As luck for me would have it, in banks, insurance companies, some govt and semi govt jobs, married women were not allowed to work...so there was a turnover of staff as single women left employment.
At the time I left school they were taking young men educated "to Leaving Certificate standard" (even if 50% was attained).
I sat the entrance exam...it was basic maths and basic english...my two specialities.
Passed the entrance exam...and while waiting to start my so called career, I was sent to the Post Office to work for 2 weeks, sorting and delivering mail.
It was horrible. Hot as hell one week, pouring rain the next, hills everywhere.
What was totally unbearable at school and changed me from a "soft, gentle, polite, truthful, respectful, happy young man into a scheming, sly, cunning, wary and sometimes violent-in-defence one was:
the barbaric torture inflicted on my thin fingers/hands by the nasty cane-wielding large principal.
My crime...looking at my watch at assembly, 9am outdoors, large concrete area, 1,100 boys, suits and ties, summer...I getting light-headed.
