When i was young, i actually loved school. I might not have been the best in class but i enjoyed going to school.
Every day, we had homework to do, and i would obviously bring all my books and notebooks home to do it. However, occasionally, on Fridays, we were “homework free”. That was a treat, as it was not that often.
I was a lazy kid
In a way, i was kind of a lazy kid. Back then, we didn’t have backpacks like kids have now: we had “briefcases” to carry our books and school stuff. They were a bit bulky and required being held at least with one hand. How can i play on my way home while holding that school bag?
No locker back then?
We didn’t have lockers to keep our stuff in. The most i remember was a hook to put our coat, so i could not leave my school bag in any space that was mine.
Good idea
I might have been lazy, and probably thought i was clever too. The solution i found was super simple: i would make sure i was among the last students out of the school (probably going for a bathroom break on my way out), and i would hide my school bag behind the main door. My reasoning was that, once the doors were open, nobody would see it, and when the doors were closed, nobody was left in the school. Now, I wonder if there were janitors or not because I never thought of them back then.
I want to play
I was then able to walk home, without anything in my hands to prevent me from playing along the way.
Nobody knows!
On Monday morning, i would simply grab my school bag from behind the door as i walked in. As far as i know, nobody ever noticed, or at least nobody ever mentioned anything.
Was that clever or stupid? Who knows?
How about you? Did you ever find clever (or not-so-clever) ways to get out of homework or out of bring stuff from school? Or anything else you did, in school that you thought you were really clever about? Share those old stories. They will surely bring some smiles.
2 thoughts on “Remember when…? – Schoolbag”
I think that was clever…I’m surprised you were the only one who thought of it, and that no one moved your school bag over the weekend.
It is my recollection, though I could be wrong, that in elementary school we were assigned desks each school year. The desks had tops that lifted to reveal a storage area beneath. Because we sat in the same place day after day, we could keep our books and other supplies in the desk so we only took home what we needed for homework (sometimes that was all the books but often not). We had lockers in the older grades (what we called junior high and high school; grades 7-12) so that gave us some place to store stuff. Now when I went to college, the books got bigger and heavier, and, since I walked and took the bus (no car for me), hauling books was an issue. On the other hand I owned them so I did something no book lover would approve of: in a few cases, I broke the book apart and removed the chapters so I only took the parts that I needed. That didn’t work for every class, of course, but it did lighten my load at times. Students now have the advantage of being able to get electronic versions of texts so they will not have the delicious relief of unloading the book bag and being liberated of all that weight for the weekend and holidays.
Oh my!! That was also clever, but as you said, book lovers would HATE that strategy! I might not be such a book lover but i am not sure i would have had the heart to break a book apart!
As for my strategy, you are right: how come the bag was not taken away? Mystery!