The "Knowing the Ropes" Story

It was an ordinary day. Just saw a pretty funny "Target" ad about a gym teacher who was in the school gym talking about having his students climbing the ropes in class. Reminded me of my gym class in the 60s and having to climb the ropes in gym class. If you reached the top you got an "A". If you reached a point about two feet down from the top you got a "B". And, the "C" and "D" and "E" for marks under that. Yeah, you never got an "F" in our school. The "E" meant the same, but it didn't seem as bad as an "F". Well, I weighed about 140 pounds and was 6 feet tall. Really skinny! And ...... fairly weak. Guess I never changed, except for the weight. How was I going to climb to the top of the gym on a rope? I was sure I was in for an "E" in rope climbing. Then one day during gym class, while we were practicing rope climbing, I was holding the bottom of the rope for another classmate, Jack B., and saw how he wrapped his feet around the rope. The answer to my problem! When he came down he showed me how he wrapped his one leg around the rope and used his other foot to lock the rope in place. Wow! And, it worked. my first try using this technique had me go twice as high as I ever had gone. Wondered why the teacher had never shown us how to use this technique. I suspect he couldn't have climbed more than a few feet off the floor. Didn't get an "A", but I did pass gym class. Then came the chin-up bar (you may know it as the pull-up bar). Had to do 10 chin-ups for the "A". Had to jump about a foot off the ground, hold onto the bar, wait until you were perfectly still, and start lifting your body weight until your chin was on the bar. Lower yourself down and do it again, and again, and again. Needed 7 or more to pass. No way could I do that, either. Well, I passed. But, I only did 4! The day of the test on the chin-up bar, I took a couple of popsicyle sticks, put them on either side of one of my fingers on my left hand, and wrapped it with all kinds of tape. Looked professional! Told Mr. Lewars, my gym teacher, that I had sprained a couple of fingers at my part-time job. I think he actually felt bad about it. Told me I didn't have to take the test. But, I told him I wanted to try. I managed my 3 or 4, which I usually could do, and dropped off the bar, holding my hand. "You passed." he said. You know, after all these years, I still don't feel bad about doing that, because climbing to the top of the gym on a rope or being able to pull all your weight to the top of a bar, still seem stupid. I now have those ropes going up my steps on my deck behind my house. I ended up teaching at my HS Alma Mater and one day found the old ropes in a storage room in the high school. Asked the principal if I could have them and he was glad to get rid of them. Maybe some day I'll hang them in one of my walnut trees and see how high I can climb. Then again, maybe I won't! Why? Because it's still stupid. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary day.