How one period can cause so much pain
After spending hours and hours at my desk and in meetings, which I have to say I thoroughly enjoy, I had to come to terms with the fact that the travel plus the sitting was making me very stiff, and my general fitness was reducing. So with renewed vigour and the bathroom scales shouting “get off, get off!” I decided to get a trainer and join a gym. Both those words fill me with dread and misery.
I don’t think it is just because I am naturally lousy at sport, although you would never believe it looking at my athletic body! But I think it is something that goes way back to my childhood.
At the age of 10, after going to a fairly cosy junior school, I entered big school. Big school meant big physical education lessons, cross country runs, rugby. All the things that I intensely dislike and certainly cannot understand why so many people enjoy these activities. But live and let live is what I say.
That is not the case however at school. You do not get choices. One day my sister, who is older than me by two years, left happily for school with a letter from my mother asking the teacher to excuse her from physical education classes. On her return, I asked how on earth had she got our very strict mother to write such a letter. “It is my period,” she said. “So I didn’t need to go.”
“How do you get them? I want one,” I said. Slightly flustered she admitted she wasn’t sure how she got them (education is a wonderful thing). My sister, who was excellent at joined-up writing, agreed to forge a letter to my PE teacher, asking him to excuse me from football.
‘Dear Sir,’ she wrote. ‘Please excuse Laurence from Games as he has a period. Sincerely J Gould (Mrs).’
The next morning I left for school feeling light in heart. I could see it was going to rain, so how lucky I would be to avoid having to run around the muddy field, avoiding the ball coming anywhere near me. God forbid I should be expected to kick the damn thing.
What was also great I didn’t have to bring my kit with me. I duly handed over my letter, asking to be excused from the games. It was then that my world turned upside down.
I had to face the embarrassing questions by the headmaster of what was a period? As I stuttered out I wasn’t sure, or was it a full stop? This dreaded man walked to his cupboard, duly removed his cane and I received, as they famously say, six of the best. He told me: “Gould, three of them were for being dishonest and the other three for being stupid”.
I still hate school and football, and have to admit some days when I think about the incident I am still ambivalent about how I feel about my sister.
On a practical note, whether we like physical exercise or not, it is just something we should not neglect. So walking has become my favourite pastime. Whilst I am delighted by the commitment of my colleagues at work, I would also recommend that taking lunch breaks and other breaks are essential for your well being, and that well being is definitely more important than anything else.
I don’t think it is just because I am naturally lousy at sport, although you would never believe it looking at my athletic body! But I think it is something that goes way back to my childhood.
At the age of 10, after going to a fairly cosy junior school, I entered big school. Big school meant big physical education lessons, cross country runs, rugby. All the things that I intensely dislike and certainly cannot understand why so many people enjoy these activities. But live and let live is what I say.
That is not the case however at school. You do not get choices. One day my sister, who is older than me by two years, left happily for school with a letter from my mother asking the teacher to excuse her from physical education classes. On her return, I asked how on earth had she got our very strict mother to write such a letter. “It is my period,” she said. “So I didn’t need to go.”
“How do you get them? I want one,” I said. Slightly flustered she admitted she wasn’t sure how she got them (education is a wonderful thing). My sister, who was excellent at joined-up writing, agreed to forge a letter to my PE teacher, asking him to excuse me from football.
‘Dear Sir,’ she wrote. ‘Please excuse Laurence from Games as he has a period. Sincerely J Gould (Mrs).’
The next morning I left for school feeling light in heart. I could see it was going to rain, so how lucky I would be to avoid having to run around the muddy field, avoiding the ball coming anywhere near me. God forbid I should be expected to kick the damn thing.
What was also great I didn’t have to bring my kit with me. I duly handed over my letter, asking to be excused from the games. It was then that my world turned upside down.
I had to face the embarrassing questions by the headmaster of what was a period? As I stuttered out I wasn’t sure, or was it a full stop? This dreaded man walked to his cupboard, duly removed his cane and I received, as they famously say, six of the best. He told me: “Gould, three of them were for being dishonest and the other three for being stupid”.
I still hate school and football, and have to admit some days when I think about the incident I am still ambivalent about how I feel about my sister.
On a practical note, whether we like physical exercise or not, it is just something we should not neglect. So walking has become my favourite pastime. Whilst I am delighted by the commitment of my colleagues at work, I would also recommend that taking lunch breaks and other breaks are essential for your well being, and that well being is definitely more important than anything else.