FIVE AND ONE HALF Chapter 2

They Called me names like "Shorty"

 

 

One thing I failed to mention was two years after I was born Ma had another child that was a girl and it wasn’t long before she was the apple of my ma’s eye.  

To make things worse she out grew me and by the time she was three she was taller than me. So she was getting most of the attention and looked down on me.  

 

Everything went well until my tenth year and the boys began to take interest in the girls and they put me down by calling me names like shorty and shrimp and many other nasty things.  

This had an effect on the way the girls viewed me and it wasn’t long before the girls took the same attitude as the boys.  

My dad considered me to be a runt and that old time attitude meant runts didn’t get any respect from a burly man.

I endured life instead of living it except for my sketches that was evolving into graphics. With computers coming on the scene a new world was opening up.  

The problem was I didn’t have a computer and at school the bigger kids’ occupied them playing games.

I desperately wanted one of my own but I almost got a whipping for asking Dad for one for Christmas when he found out how much one cost.

I always managed to find some work after school and earn some money which I saved for things my pa wouldn’t buy for me.  

When I wanted something he would say, “If you want it then work for it like I did.” I heard that more times that I care to remember.

Because of my stature I always got paid less for doing the same job. I figured that if I cut a lawn like other boys I should be paid like them but that wasn’t the case. I took what I could get and kept quiet about it other wise they wouldn’t hire me.  

There was another problem and that was because I worked for less the other boys were mad about it for they were pressed to work for less.  

I finally save enough to buy me a racing bike and my dad said I should have been satisfied with a balloon tire one which was half the price.  

I endured the criticism and enjoyed my racer.

To be Continued