Redline

Grade school at St. Martha's

We had BIG report cards

with letter grades in each subject. But not all report cards were created equal. What distinguished our report cards from others was the Redline.

A Redline spanned the width of the card.

It ostensibly indicated the level that a student should be performing at. The Redline may have been based on periodic "intelligence" tests administered in the classroom.

My older sister, Sister Yvonne

As a good catholic boy in an Italian family, growing up on the hill, with an older sister who's early calling was leaning to the convent, she had set the standards pretty high. So my expectations were high.

The Redline has been a subject of numerous discussions within my family. Who is smart? Who had a low Redline? Is there ANY correlation to real life? In the end, we all agree that the Redline report card was an ill conceived, outright stupid idea.

But, and there always seems to be a but.

As a grade school student, I thought it important to have and maintain a high Redline. To hell with good grades! When my Redline dropped, I was crestfallen. Lynn Buck always had a high Redline and grades to match. I had Redline envy!

My friend Where's the Pot, Food with an Astronaut guy probably had an Uber high Redline.

Who remembers how much the weekly milk allowance was?

Yeah, I still think that if I had more sleep and an extra chocolate milk that day in 1959 I would've had a Lynn Buck level Redline.

I think we all have Redlines in the closet, i.e., things we couldn't or didn't live up to.

What was your Redline?

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