My father quit school before finishing third grade because he thought the teachers were too uppity. He carried a bullet to school and the teacher freaked out. (This was 1918.) His father was a jerk too, so he didn't go home either. They found him a week later, living in the woods.
He left his father's household at age 13, hitched a ride across a state line, and got a job as a construction laborer. At age 21 he married a 15 yo girl. For a while he manufactured ornaments of lead, which he plated with copper. Then he opened a lead mine in the desert.
My dad had to quit school in the 4th grade. He eventually attained the equivalent of a high school education. He'd fight at the drop of a hat and I admired him for that trait.
I never knew what was up with my dad. He never seemed to fight anything. He graduated from Boys Town(like an orphanage) and was sort of locked into doing manual labor until he retired. It won't do any good as to why things turned out for him that way. Maybe it was me being born.
This post was edited by Zack at July 18, 2018 5:33 PM MDT