Those of you who follow me and my blog, know that I have gone through a lot of weird (and often wonderful) adventures and, while I may toy with the occasional clickbait title, I never actually exaggerate or lie about my experiences. That train that nearly killed me really was no more than two seconds away from impact when Mark pulled me clear and probably even less. And, so it follows, with this incident, I really was, strictly speaking, kidnapped.
Let me explain...
When I was a small kid I was often the target of bullies and with a lot of encouragement from my old man (affectionate term for my stepfather who is my dad in everything but biology) I learned to stand up for myself. You might remember the incident I posted in which I described how, when faced with a gang, that I tracked them down, almost individually and resolved it myself. There was also a time, which I haven't posted (yet), when my brother and another friend really set off my triggers and Mark (the same Mark I mentioned above) tried to intervene and when I spoke to him recently he told me that I terrified him because of my face and how a vein was literally throbbing out of my head.
There was a period in my life when, while I wasn't completely out of control, my triggers were very sensitive. Life had taught me that aggression was salvation and if I ever felt threatened the consequences were all to frequently unpleasant for whoever triggered me. Of course, I lost a few fights on the way, but on the whole that wasn't my story. The bullies backed off and I settled down. The legacy is that I still will not back down, but I have better self-control nowadays.
Sadly, my bigger boy is beginning to experience a bit of this and as far as I am concerned - so long as he doesn't start it - I have no problem with him finishing it. There is all of this psycho-BS going around nowadays that recommends understanding and passivity, but it doesn't stop mean kids being mean when no adults are around. The sad truth and the reality is that this is the point at which their protection ends and the hapless kid is left more vulnerable than ever and especially nowadays when cyber-bullying means children are not even safe in their own homes.
Bullies, just like wild animals, smell blood and are relentless in the hunt.
I will make sure that my big boy has the tools to deal with anybody who creates too many problems for him and for any of those kids who think they can push him around they had better watch out because his little brother is coming just a couple of years behind him and he is as hard as nails!
Anyway, I should go back to the beginning. This incident happened when I was probably about 9 or 10. At the time there was another kid of more or less the same age and the first part of his route home corresponded with mine. A map might be helpful at this point.
We both went to a school called Manor Leas - located towards the bottom left of the map and I lived in the house marked with a red icon at the top of the map towards the right hand side. You will see to get home that I had to walk along Hykeham Road, which I have helpfully marked with two stars.
In the key I have marked the orange star as "incident" because this was the moment that prompted everything that followed. This other boy was one of those who was always turning the screws and whenever I went for him he always managed to escape among friends or in some other way. Today was different though. I cornered him and pounced. I do remember that I was not out of control and it was a single raised knee. He dropped to the ground and that is where I left him as I continued walking home. I do recall I was with at least one friend, but I honestly can't remember who - it might even have been two. Unfortunately, the "incident" happened almost exactly in front of this other boy's house and so I guess he picked himself up and told his parents what had happened as soon as he got in.
Unaware of this, I was just walking along minding my own business, when suddenly not much further along Hykeham Road - where the yellow star is - a car pulled up onto the pavement and the driver's door flew open and a man jumped out. He raced around to get to me and opened the back passenger-side door and grabbed me and picked me up in the space of a couple of seconds and threw me (literally) into the back of his car. Honestly, I didn't feel anything; no fear, no anxiety, no anger, maybe just a bit of WTF (although I would not have expressed it that way at the time).
As he got back in the car, I saw his boy was in the front passenger seat and then I knew. The man demanded to know where I lived and with little other choice I told him. He then took me home and knocked on my door before having a go at my mum about what had happened. My old man was at work at the time. Now, my mum abhorred all kinds of violence or aggression and she was much less than impressed and probably more than a little bit embarrassed. She apologised to the man and I went inside. I can't remember exactly how she reacted (because I remember what followed more), but maybe she was at a bit of a loss and so it was a case of wait until your dad gets home. I vaguely remember that when he got home I explained to him what'd happened from my point of view and he just listened. He didn't go as far as congratulating me for what I did, but he didn't come down hard on me neither, he just simply sent me to bed as it was past my bedtime; after all he'd got home after 9pm.
The next day I woke up and my mum was a bit quiet, but my old man said to me if there was any trouble at school that I should let him know. I went to school as usual and before I knew it my teacher berated me in front of the whole class, and then the boy's teacher came in and did the same, before Mrs Ratcliffe, the Deputy-Head, came in and had a go too. As if that wasn't enough, the local beat-bobby (local policeman) also came in and laid into me verbally too. Just like my teacher had, all of them did it in front of the whole class.
One incident of sticking up for myself and the adults were literally queuing up to take me apart.
Obviously, when I got home, I duly reported to my old man what'd happened. Again he just listened.
The following morning, and somewhat unusually, he took me to school.
From what I understand to this day, he backed me 100% from the very first moment that he heard what'd happened and while he broadly went along with my mum's attitude towards violence, he felt that this was a specific incident. Either way, whatever they discussed between them when I was in bed, they had come to an agreement by the morning, and that meant they had a united front. He found it absolutely appalling that so many adults ganged up on me in what was actually wave after wave of verbal attacks, from adults who frankly should have known better. He took me to school that day so that he could also have a chat with Mrs Ratcliffe; and one thing you do not do, is rile my old man. He's normally pretty chill and easy-going, but there is that edge...
He will always deal with things correctly and not be aggressive, but that aside, he left Mrs Ratcliffe's office with her "feeling about an inch tall" from what he said.
Now, just to clarify, this was not a case in line with what seems to happen a lot nowadays when parents blindly defend their children and blame the teachers. For example, a few years later when in high school, I had a very powerful catapult confiscated which the Headmaster, Mr Potter, brought home the same afternoon. My old man hit the roof, and this wasn't the only time. He has always stood up for what is right, and never just blindly defended me (nor my brother - although I don't think there were any such incidents with him).
He taught us to take responsibility and face the consequences for what we did and I am a better person for it.
So, looking back, this happened c.1982 and yes as they often say it "was different times", but nonetheless, while the boy's dad had no evil or malicious intent, what he did strictly speaking was to kidnap me - however briefly - and in 2026 - my transgression (if that is what defending myself was) would be largely overlooked and HIS behaviour would be under the microscope - and so it should be. He could and should have escalated it through the school and then the school would have decided whether to bring my parents into it or not. Additionally, whatever injury I caused (or didn't cause), the adults in the school should have got their heads together and ONE of them should have spoken to me and the Police should have been kept out of it.
Boys will be boys and fighting is part of that territory. Yes, what I did probably did need addressing, but the adults collectively were attempting to shame, humiliate and intimidate me - and in 2026 this is classed as a form of mental abuse.
So, there you go, the day Crypto_Rah was kidnapped!
And on that note please stay safe and well as always my friends.
NB The image is AI generated and is definitely not me, but it serves to illustrate what happened
