For them that must obey authority...

...that they do not respect in any degree(*)

I cannot think of the song Blowing In The Wind without thinking of an incident in Catholic school, 4th grade, which would have been 1964-1965, Sister Catherine Imelda's class. For some reason we were singing BITW, and Sister handed out mimeographs of the lyrics, which we all of course pressed to our faces to embrace the aroma of the mimeograph ink.

I had never heard of Bob Dylan at the time. I only knew BITW as a Peter Paul and Mary song. Sister probably hadn't heard of Dylan either.

Anyway, the mimeograph had a typo. The line:

How many times must I stumble and fall

was printed as

How many times must IS stumble and fall

Always the ever-vigilant proofreader, I started laughing (big mistake) and pointed out the typo to the kid next to me (bigger mistake). Suddenly, I heard the swoosh of an approaching habit and rosary beads clacking against the desks, and I braced for what I knew was about to happen:

I was yanked out of my desk by the ear, angrily asked what was so funny, and instead of saying "Nothing, S'ter", I showed her the typo, which got her even angrier. After a verbal tirade I was slammed back into my desk to resume singing.

The story above is an excerpt from my upcoming memoir (in progress), working title "It Was Hell, Recalls Former Child" (pending approval from the BKilban estate)

(*)It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)

 - Bob Dylan, 1964