The Freshman - 1971-1972

No, not the fine 1990 film starring Marlin Brando, Matthew Broderick, Bruno Kirby, and Penelope Ann Miller. No, this one is me from 1971 or 1972. This is my freshman yearbook picture from De La Salle High School in New Orleans. Sorry about the graininess. Do I look like I could pass for a cop or any adult for that matter? Three of my classmates from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Grammar School chose De La Salle. One of them ended up having the exact same 7 classes as me and the other had five classes with us. Mom would drop me off at Lee's Circle in the New Orleans Central Business District and I'd catch the streetcar to school. It was 43 city blocks. I don't remember much about freshman year but I do remember initiation week. On Monday through Thursday, the freshmen had to wear a beanie and had to do pretty much whatever the seniors told them to do from 7AM until 4PM if I remember correctly. It could be carrying books, singing the fight song, doing leap frog with other freshman, etc. Mostly tame stuff. That brings me to the next photo.

The Line - De La Salle High School - 1971

On Friday, we had to walk the line. The line was a roped-off gauntlet. The seniors would line up along the outside of one of the ropes. The freshmen then walked between the ropes and the seniors would throw stuff at them. 75% of the time, it was a mixture of flour and water. Every fourth year, though, the seniors could throw pretty much whatever they wanted ... within reason. We were the fourth year and the last year this was allowed. Flour and water is nasty, folks. What those seniors threw at us went way, way beyond nasty. We're talking flour and water, rotten eggs, molasses, cat litter (Unused we hope but no one was sure), all manner of non-toxic household products, and then there was the big one. It was an X-factor. None of the previously mentioned components worried us that much but there was one that frightened us big time and that was a fairly new product on the market then called Nair. The ads on TV showed women putting it on their legs and then wiping it and all of their hair off with a rag. What??? Our hair was a big deal to us in those days. We were scared to death of Nair. Our fears were unfounded, of course. I doubt that stuff would have had any effect stirred in with those vile mixtures. One of the seniors had a garbage can full of some concoction that was bubbling. I have no idea who those guys are in the picture but I looked just like them when I was done. All of us threw our clothes away. This was the year BEFORE De La Salle got air conditioning. The schoolyard stunk for a solid 6 weeks and we had to cope with all of the windows open in the September/October New Orleans heat and you probably have an idea what heat does for an already noxious odor.