Page 433 - NIXBOOK

The other thing that drove adults crazy was that boys were wearing their ball caps crooked. Not backwards, but at like a 45
degree angle. Yes, it looked completely stupid.

Every few years the school would get a new principal. One of them decided the whole ball cap craze was too much for him so
he completely banned them from the high school. This was kind of a big deal, because back then at least 2 out of every 3 boys
wore ball caps. They all complained, and some vocal parents complained to the principal enough that he had to revise the policy
to allow hat wearing outside, because a lot of the kids had to walk to different buildings between classes, or before or after
school, and it rained a lot and so the poor little dears needed to keep their heads dry, right? This made enforcing the no-hat rule
very difficult for the security staff (all three of them) because no kid left their hat at home; they of course wore them outside
and took them off once they got in the hallway. Wait, no, of course they didn’t. Because about half the teachers didn’t care and
even let the kids wear their hats in the classrooms. So between classes, when the hallways were bustling with kids going back
and forth, there would be at least a dozen or two out of every hundred with their hats on. It made it difficult for me because I
was all about enforcing rules, but it was hard to catch kids when they were down the hall with 63 other kids between us and
when they saw me eyeballing them they’d duck into a classroom and be safe. Or even worse, they’d take their hat off before I
could confiscate it, and then 10 feet later as they walked around a corner they’d put their hat back on in defiance.
I heard a teacher once complain about the whole hat ban thing. “I used to teach at a school where the principal prohibited gum
chewing,” he told me. “Guess what happened? Every single kid in the school started chewing gum, all the time. And it was
impossible to catch them since they’d just swallow it anytime they got caught.” After a few months that principal gave up and
decided to just let the kids wear their stupid hats.

I met a lot of school principals over the years. I had always had a lot of respect for their positions but slowly started seeing that
just because somebody is a school principal, it doesn’t mean they are super smart. In fact, I sadly realized that it was not
uncommon to see, uh, pretty stupid folks in administrative positions.

Here’s me with the high school security staff, practicing for a high school graduation.