Lofty

I could relate to many of the incidents in the book. If the expectations of the authority figures have limited expectations of you, it says something of them.

I had evil catholic teachers throughout my time at a pretend catholic school and a counsellor who was in cahoots with a brother who self harmed many years later. They offered no help as to how I can improve myself. They said that you cannot improve yourself, you'll never improve your intelligence and you'll never make it to uni. Well I did go to a gum-leaf-league uni (Mq) and a Gof8 (UNSW). It took a long time but I got there. I NEED NO-ONE'S OPINION. This is just a precis, not counting the bullying and tormenting even during class and the brothers never protected me.

Similarly in the book "Lofty", the tormenting and teasing at school have become his demons.

I have also had some bad superiors at work who deliberately kept me in the dark, never showing me the ropes when others were shown the ropes.. I vowed never to have a job like that again. If I told you the employer, you'd be surprised. Note I still believe the employer is great and has a great product that I still consume.

I can relate this to "Lofty's" experience at some radio stations where the psychopathic bosses overburdened him with work at a particular radio station.

I had the privilege of interviewing Jane Elliot a famous US educator on 2SER-fm. I asked her how does one from a low socio economic group get out of a rut. She simply answered to "...not accept what the people on top define you..." Two good movies about raising expectations is "Stand and Deliver" and "Freedom Writers" and of course this book "Lofty".

In the same way, 'Lofty' did not see himself as a novelty side-show act or doing menial jobs. He was very fortunate to find his 'vocation'. Once he felt relaxed while in his vocation, the more he improved his work, the less the demons of negativity dragged him down.

You can find people and/or organisations that can help you. One thing is that I never felt discriminated at all at tafe or uni. I put the same effort in my studies at tafe and uni and was not systematically marked down as that evil catholic school. There are learning centres at university such as The Learning Centre (UNSW) that assists students build their competencies in writing. It is ironic that a secular institution helped me achieve my potential compared to that pretend catholic school. I must remark NOT all teachers at school were bad, but most were incompetent. Some teachers were very vindictive.

In sum I would strongly recommend that you purchase 'Lofty'. Even though your negative experiences are not the same as those experienced by 'Lofty', you can still relate to those bad experiences that apply to you. Once you recognise the crap dished at you and how it is stopping you from progressing, you are on the way to live the life you want.

Of course if self-help does not help, you should seek professional help from an evidence-based AHPRA (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency www.ahpra.gov.au) certified professional whether psychological or medical such as a counsellor or GP.

Verdict: 'Lofty' is strongly recommended.

Thank you.

Anthony of Belfield
By Anthony