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  • Writer's pictureTerry Groves

B.R.A.T.S. Blumbedy Glass

Updated: Aug 28, 2019

When I was about six or seven I had my first encounter with the law. My older brothers, Mark, and Robin, me, my younger brother Paul and some of Mark and Robin's friends went on an adventure. We were living in the PMQs in Winnipeg and, for this adventure, had to cross Ness Ave which was a big deal to someone as young as me. I don't recall the purpose of the trip but we ended up at a building on Ness Ave that was some sort of community hall. We went inside and discovered they were showing a movie called Gulliver's Travels. I remember Mark sticking his head into the doorway of the theater saying "What's this?" He was promptly challenged for his ticket, which he didn't have, and then we were all ushered out of the building. We headed across the street to a drug store. On the way, Mark and Robin coached me on how to steal candy. "Don't be obvious, just slide it in your pocket when no one's looking." They gave similar instructions to Paul. I managed to get a roll of Lifesavers, butterscotch, into my pocket and was heading for the door. Paul grabbed some candy and ran behind me. We all got caught and our parents were called. We were made to wait in an office and I remember noting that there was blumbedy glass on a pony wall there. We liked blumbedy glass, that was our name for it. Blumbedy glass is flat on one side but the other side has a series of ridges, with smooth curves between them. I have since seen it called 'ridged glass' or 'scalloped glass'. I liked to run my fingers over the ridges. The clerk told us to empty our pockets. When I pulled out my roll of Lifesavers, he said, "Is that all you took?" After I acknowledged he said, "Oh, you'll only get five years in jail for that." FIVE YEARS! Thinking he was serious, I started to cry. Our parents arrived and took us home. I had to watch while Mark and Robin got their whippings, knowing mine was coming. I deserved it but I sure didn't like it. We had our spanking dance, raising our feet high, trying to move away from the sting of the strap. Kind of funny to think back on it but it sure wasn't funny that day. Paul didn't get a spanking because he was too young to understand what he was doing. At least I had had the opportunity to run my fingers over the blumbedy glass. I remember looking at Robin as I did it, smiling as I mouthed 'blumbedy.' It is funny sometimes, the things that stick in our memories. I learned some good lessons that day, that first encounter with the law. It ended with an encounter with dad's punishment, something I was already quite familiar with, after all, I was a brat. And I wasn't done with those encounters either, I was still a brat. And, as you will find out when you continue to read my posts, the experience didn't necessarily deter my shenanigans, but it did teach me to be more careful. Sometimes I got away with things, sometimes I didn't. Overall, I think I came out ahead as each incident made me a bit wiser.

wavey glass
Blumbedy Glass

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