No foolin'

  This being Aprils' fool day I am reminded of two things. First, it is the birthday of my great grandfather Floyd P Lester of East Hampton, New York. Born on April 1st of 1878 he lived his entire life in East Hampton passing away there in 1968. I was thirteen at the time of his passing and it hit me hard. It was my first funeral and upon seeing that coffin I just bolted out of there! Didn't go to another funeral for many years after that. To this day I don't know why I had that reaction, I think it was just the sorrow hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks. A surge of empathy? I can't say, was "gramp" sad that he died? I think maybe it was just the overall scene, all those people gathered around, the minister was there, and a grey steel coffin. It was just too much at that time. Today I just remember his birthday being on April fools day and the good times I shared with him in his dusty old house of mystery. Lots of mysterious stuff in that house, rooms left untouched and unused since Great Grandmother Lucy had passed back in 1956. He was a gruff, cantankerous old man, prone to speaking his mind. The only man I heard tell my father to be quiet and that he didn't know what he was talking about! Well, the only one he never snapped back at anyway. Dad would just mumble something under his breath and walk away. 

 The other thing I am reminded of on April fools day is my time in the navy. I 'm thinking about that because of all the practical jokes that were pulled on me and others all the time. Today it is what they call hazing. We just called it having a bit of fun. If you were a boot, you were open game. You were also open game if others thought they could fool you with their clever pranks, testing your "intelligence." You know some folks crackers aren't quite as crisp as others. Common tests would be sending you to the radio shack for a fallopian tube. You know back in the old days they didn't teach you about that stuff in school, although I do remember my dad having to take me to the school gym one evening to see a "special" film. It involved stick figures and reproduction. Pretty funny stuff when I remember what was shown. Or you could be sent for a sky hook and placed on mail buoy watch. If you were an engineer you were subject to being "greased" which involved shoving that grease into a certain area to lubricate the joints. Getting married or going on liberty? You just might need some "antiseize" compound applied, you know, to be safe. You might get sent to the armory to get a pistol to shoot mid rats with. Or sent to the signal shack to get a snap hook from those skivvie wavers. You weren't going to get one! Or it might be on the captains mast. Yeah, it was all just in good clean fun. April fool everyday, all day until you became seasoned enough, had that crust of salt that made you immune, for the most part. Ah, the good times. I expect some of that continues to this day but the times do change, sensibilities change. Wouldn't want to offend anyone or make them feel marginalized. But the thing is, during my time it was that "camaraderie" that make you feel included. Just one of the boys. Well, it was just the boys back then and you know, boys will be boys. And the boys just wanted to be men! No foolin'.