Dear Editor:
In discussion with my husband around the debate that continues to surround the May Day event – historical significance and/or colonial insult – I related my own childhood experience. Though the maypole dance is often reminisced with nostalgia, there is a much darker side. First of all, we were all scared to incur the wrath of our Grade 2 teacher, so the practices and final maypole dance were fraught with anxiety, and the blame heaped on the poor child who inevitably went over instead of under and screwed the whole thing up, was cringe worthy. He’s probably never danced again – because it seemed it was always the boys.
And then there’s the infamous maypole incident that happened in my family, where the teacher tried to maneuver the pole herself and it fell over, knocked him (again the boy thing) on the head, which required stitches. The upside: he never had to attend another May Day. History is written by the conkerers.
Laura Jones, New Westminster
