Page 59 - A Life - my Live - my path

School - my youth

When you live in a miner’s community, the social circle is
small. You rub shoulders with people who are basically from
the same background as you.
When you live in Piéton, in a standard house on the
boulevard, the circle widens de facto and you rub shoulders
with young people from different backgrounds.
When I was about 15, I started playing table tennis, or ping-
pong as we used to call it. At the Saturday training sessions
and matches, I met two young people, one of whom was the
son of the Morlanwelz VAT collector and the other from a
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middle-class family . I quickly got the impression that my
horizons were broadening. The way you dress, the way you
hold yourself, the way you talk …
One day, I was very impressed to hear one of them

immediately answer 'alcohol' to a crossword question asking
for the name of a drink with one ‘h’ and an 'o': I'd never seen
a crossword puzzle before!
We became very good friends. The receiver's son already had
a sharp mind and a general knowledge that was much
broader than mine. We were often together and, thanks to
him, we talked about a wide range of subjects. My life was
gradually changing. One day, he told: "It will always be
useful if you meet people who are a bit of a show-off".
I quickly memorised that.

"There are circumstances in life when a man, no matter
how intelligent he may be, is forced to obey seemingly

58 Jean-Claude REVERSE
59 Daniel BERTRAND
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