Sheep in the Road

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September 1972:
Dear Alan, Ann, Joanna and Tanya,
Anne, dad, grandma, etc, etc are all up in arms, I get
funny looks, they’re asking what did you (me) write in your
letter to get a reply (Anne’s upset because she sent you all
those photo’s and you haven’t said how good Paul looks,
the second letter crowned it). Its great getting letters but
I don’t like writing them much and I’ve noticed that our
airletters are bigger than yours.
You know I’m 22 now and I’m only just starting to assert
myself, I really appreciate your advice and know its
probably the best thing to do - stay for a diploma I mean.
BUT. Being dependent on dad scraping around for money
etc are bad for me. We call most of our lecturers by first
names and vice versa, this has come to the notice of the
director of the college and he says, stop, most of them are
friends but now its MR. so-and-so etc. Its just too childish?
Its really an obvious attempt to get more authority. When
a guys your friend? you can question what he says, what
rules he makes, etc. This is harder with the school type
system. It doesn’t matter to them that their strict system
creates friction, frustration for students who naturally come
off worst. The administration knows you can work much
easier with numbers than with people and they want us
to be like numbers not individuals. So Tech is out, I might
have been able to take it if I was happy at home but I’m
not. There are lots of hang ups there as well and naturally
I come off worst there as well, or I think so.
There’s nothing wrong with dad really, I don’t like Nancy,
but thats got little to do with it , we just have nothing in
common, we agree on nothing. Anyway I can’t stay in
this country much longer without blowing something up
anyway. The politicians here are rottener than most, I think
history will look back on them as monsters (or I hope so).
If you do send me an ‘OZ’ wrap it well and try to make
it look like something else because its banned here and
I think they open parcels that look magazine because so
many of them are banned (more reasons censorship &
police). Another thing is if ever theres more internal strife
here they will call up the army (as they did for the Cato
Manor thing) and how can I go, what will I do then, I’m
not brave or I’d have done something by now, I’d just drift
along with the army when my sympathy is with them all,
the way they’ve been treated so badly that I can’t blame
them. I think if I was black in S.A. I would be for anything
that would get the whites out.
LOVE
Brian
97