Dickie's Glee Club

Didn't we all go through high school with a boy like Dickie? You know, the somewhat good-looking "rich kid" popular clique member, leader of the "in" crowd? Sexy sometimes in that high school jock way, even if not built for sports or good at sports he was considered a jock. He was extremely confident because no matter how inattentive in class, no matter what weekend wildness, no matter what law he broke or bent he never had a legal problem, or if he did the run-in with the law always went away. In my high school he was Dickie.

Guys like Dickie were never punished for driving under the influence and wrecking a few of daddy's cars during high school. Never prosecuted for exploding the cow carcass with dynamite in the town square. That last 4 point speeding ticket went away every time and Dickie never lost driving privileges.

Dickie never had to brag because the kids boasted for and of his antics and escapades. He was a celebrity all through high school just for being who he was, the popular "rich kid." The teachers, knowing his social rung, all stopped short of public fawning, but often upgraded his scores, never to give Dickie less than a gentleman's C.

He had his female glee club, who giggled praise when he was around and when he wasn't. Most all the girls, openly or not, wanted to be with Dickie. Dickie was not particularly drop dead handsome, but not ugly. There was always a female counterpart for Dickie and they usually dated. He never had a problem getting laid. Good girls and bad girls up and down the social ladder would accommodate him just to say they "knew" Dickie.

His buddies included one guy from the wrong side of the tracks with a name like Stud or Stoney; the guy who gave Dickie courage and Dickie gave Stud a little status. He was the guy who led Dickie's male glee club and gave Dickie the bad-boy image folks are prone to palpitate over. The guy who would take the rap for Dickie if need be.

High school was the best years of Dickie's life and 20, 30, even 40 years later he may still tell you it was the best years of his life. These were the years Dickie, without any effort at all, felt unconditional hero-worship; love and approval were automatic simply because of where he stood on the local social food chain.

Dickie's dad is a lawyer, landowner, politician, or physician, and owns many of the local businesses. They are an old family in town and have controlled the pecking order for a long time. No sheriff is elected or town council member seated without his family's approval. His mom is a socialite and do-gooder, when she's sober; no one mentions her closet drinking, and certainly not her banging the kitchen remodeling contractor 20 years younger than herself. They're the perfect family with Dickie often being the only child or with a much younger little sister whom he adores and protects, a future clique member and "rich kid."

After high school Dickie attends the family alma mater, usually with great difficulty having never developed learning skills, never felt the lust for knowledge, never any impetus to excel. Dickie never had to go to war although his father and grandfathers usually did, as they were from an era that expected that of men who would be leaders. He's the third or fourth generation; each generation living off the rewards of the father before them; familial strength and incentive begin to run thin. He will try to walk in the footsteps of his forefathers, fail, and the family cleans up behind him as they have all his life. He's locked into and spoiled by a system of generational character erosion.

There are some bitter ugly disappointing adult years for Dickie, and his folks try hard to keep him together. Eventually he hits middle-age, rescued by a crew of old supporters who knew his dad and/or grandpa. His adult glee club. They will give him the appearance and documentation of mature respectability, but the reality is Dickie never did grow up, and never will. All the old men look haggard, protecting all the selfish sons they failed. God save us from the next generation of Dickies.