Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Phones & Knives

They are taking students’ phones away from them! Nothing quite as bad has happened since my classmates, and I in New York were shaken down for our pocket knives, and no, I don’t mean big mean tactical lockbacks, switchblades, or flick opens. They were confiscating our non-lockable two-inch pocket knives. Someone had informed them that you could kill someone with a one-inch blade. Some smart alec, I’m not naming names, told them, “Sure, but you’d really have to work at it.”
I got a week of detention.

Back then, the pocket knife was essential equipment. Yes, you could pull it for defensive purposes. Someone with a switchblade might die laughing as you made your moves with the shorty blade. No ,the little knife was an essential tool kit. It generally had a larger blade, a small finer one, and a bottle or cap opener – in those prehistoric days, nothing had a screw top lid. Sometimes, the opener had a flat end that doubled as a screwdriver.

These were the days before NCIS was on TV. Nobody knew about Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ Rule Nine – never go anywhere without a knife.

Sadly, most kids will have a phone but are not trusted with a knife. They might cut themselves. This contrasts with when I was young, and they worried we might cut someone else.

Progress. Onward!