One of my enduring memories of Joe is the school meeting that summer where Joe for some reason blew a fuse and started to rant. "You people smell like Westbrook! Westbrook! Get you of here. Get out of here. I don't want to smell you any more." and he was spitting, standing at the edge of the stage and spitting as he spoke. I will never forget it.
That was the thing that was freaky about him: you could never tell which way he was going to go. Was he happy? Was he sad? Was he angry? You just could not tell. He would start one way and then BANG massive mood swing and he would be ranting or crying.
I don't remember the Westbrook rant. I never paid any attention to the content of those meetings. I was too focused on keeping my eyes open. A few minutes of listening to Joe was enough to make me feel as if I had been deprived of sleep for days. What a bore! What fifth-rate theatrics instead of an education. Like listening to Goebbels.
I'm happy that Hyde worked for you. I suppose Hitler Youth helped some kids too. "Character education" is a pretext for one very stupid, cruel, and disturbed individual to feel empowered. Year in year out, Joe Gauld empowers a nucleus of families --- the lowest common denominator --- who indoctrinize the rest in an environment of fear and intimidation. What percentage of families walk away from Hyde feeling they have been healed? What percentage feel cheated?
You ask key questions: What percentage of Hyde families feel they have been healed? Cheated? Now that I've been involved with Hyde I am convinced that a very substantial number of families feel cheated and, more importantly, abused. Hyde is very good at sniffing out the families that buy into the Hyde kool-aid and they parade these trophy families around in order to "demonsrate" the success of the system. It's remarkably like Castro's tactics; display the "success" stories while the masses rot. Many other corrupt and abusive leaders do the same thing.
Your comments about Joe Gauld's mood swings take me right back to those meetings. Joe's ups and downs are notorious and speak volumes about how inappropriate and destructive the Hyde environment can be. Joe's behavior almost seems like bipolar disorder, with the severe mood swings and rants. It's so sad that many families get swept into Hyde because of their desperation, only to discover how bad it is. Fortunately, some (not enough) find greener pastures elsewhere and bolt from Hyde on the fastest horse available.[/quote]
I suppose Hitler Youth helped some kids too
Yup, it worked for the Pope
What percentage feel cheated?
My mother was was not happy with the way things ended. I was told in an exit interview by the tall texan that I would be dead by the time I was 25. Mom's reaction was, "so why didn't they tell me this when I was writing the checks?" They had no idea what to do with me any more then Joe knew what to do with Blache. I drank until I was 26 (Thanks Ed! javascript:emoticon(':rofl:')
javascript:emoticon(':rofl:')). I got sober the day after the 11th anniversary of my father's death. I have been sober ever since and raised my kids in a house hold were there was no alcohol abuse. Perhaps the first generation of my fathers clan to do so. What part did hyde have in this. It is hard to say. As I said before it certainly was not by didactic intent, because they clearly did not know what to do with me when I was there. It is funny that you metion Nina because she brought me to an AA meeting. So I would have to say Nina had at least as much with my growth in a good direction as anything else at Hyde did.
My friends mother grew up on High St in Bath. She played with the hyde kids ( children of the Hydes that owned the shipyard) I told him one day that I went to Hyde. His jaw hit his chest. "YOU when to Hyde?!" He said. "I never would have guessed. My Mother used to threaten me with hyde when I was bad" I have become reticent to mention my secondary education. I tend to metion that I have a BS magna cum in Engineering. Did I mention that? Well I do.
Emil Nightrate
