Further tales of school

[ailbhe]

I think she [the headmistress] tried very hard, really. She did allow me to come to school and attend only those classes that I felt able to attend, and sit the rest of the time in the hall with or without a book of my choice. The only reason it didn't work is because other teachers would harass me as I was sitting there, and I couldn't face up to saying "I am being treated differently and you will learn to cope" to them.

I wrote that earlier, in a comment. I have just remembered that the one time I explained to a teacher that the reason I wasn't in a class was that the head and I had found that the only way to get me to come to school at all (since I was so depressed that getting out of bed was a serious effort) was to ensure that I didn't have to do anything I didn't want to while I was there. That teacher told me that she, too, was depressed, and that I should just learn to live with it and pull my socks up, etc. She has since died; I've heard rumours that it was suicide. Ho hum.