We, the Coronado Scribes, consist of both professional and amateur writers. We have in common a desire to learn, by sharing our efforts and listening to other writers. We hold pressure-less sessions every Wednesday, at the Coronado Library conference room, starting at 1:30. Often we have guests who wish to just listen. They are welcome, and so are you.
Each week on eCoronado, we feature a different piece of prose or poetry
Unintended Consequences: A Ball and Chain Can Get You into Big Trouble.
Part 1. Pledging
By Mike Lavin
I was 19 years old in 1965, a sophomore at Loyola University of Chicago, living in a less-than-exciting dorm, with above average but fragile grades. The time was right for a change. A fraternity could offer tantalizing advantages: ad libitum brewskis; sex possibly; a social every Friday with a guarantee of live music and Old Style beer up to your ankles; a cool blue windbreaker emboldened with Alpha Delta Gamma (ADG); all of Fr. O’ Connors’ Soc. 207 final exams; and the best tag football team in the history of fraternities. I began pledging that spring semester enduring 12 weeks of degradation and lost sleep.
The instructions specified how to build the ball and chain. The ball was to be 8’ in diameter, the chain 26″ long and the shackle 3.5″ wide linked, secure and impenetrable. I checked the yellow pages and found a recreation equipment store on Belmont Avenue, north of Wrigley Field. Got off the “L “and walked south to Mulligan’s Sports Store. The store attendant drilled a 3” hole in the ball so I could screw the chain and attached leg manacle. As I headed back to my dorm, the sound of the ridiculous ball rolling around the floor of the “L” made me question why in hell I was pledging a fraternity.
Hell weekend hazing was the final hoop to jump through. The ball and chain returns. In my dorm room, I attached the chain to the manacle, wrapped yards of black tape around the ball, sprayed ADG on the surface of the ball and then shackled it to my right ankle. Another hell weekend requirement was to wear a black and white- striped uniform commonly used in 19th and 20th century prisons. I put together a pair of off-white pajamas striped with duct tape for fabric paint. In addition to all this craziness, you had to tie a 3-pound Carp around your neck to enhance your olfactory appeal.
It did not end there. We were required to bring a live animal mascot. All pledges agreed that a chicken was out assuming we would have to eat it. We settled on a sheep. We actually rented a sheep and o pledge leader, Mike, agreed to keep it in his garage for several days before the hell week began. On the day hell weekend began, Mike walked that sheep down Sheridan Road for several miles while carrying his ball and chain and wearing his prison stripes. It made for and an interesting sight.
Several pledges picked me up and we headed for the fraternity house. Forty pledges decked out in prison uniforms and wearing ball and chains lined up in front of the frat house. It looked like a scene from “Bridge over the River Kwai”. Several brothers greeted our pledge group with sarcastic smiles. Blindfolded, the pledges unceremoniously escorted one by one onto a school bus.
