Some of david's story.

I am not sure if it was / is Attention Deficit
I lack focus and get sidetracked easily, I like doing many things but rarely take the time to master something before moving on to another FUN thing to do.
Tha seemed to be the key to my growing up: Find fun.
Fortunately I found a lot of it through the Boy Scouts of America ( before they changed their name to"the boy, girl and transgender Scouts of The whole wide world"

See I got lost, I am back.

I do not think there was a year when a teacher did not write in my report card,
"David is so bright, he would get better grades if he just applied himself".
I went to Catholic school and was an altar boy, but I did not get molested by any priests.
I was very active in Scouting; the outdoor activity was my thing ( still is ).
I became very good with the Axe, a knife, and FIRE. Oh dear Lord, how I loved fire.
Troop 123 of Panorama City was full of lunatics. I was just one of them and by no means stood out. I was kind of small, very skinny and got teased a fair amount during the first summer camp. I can remember wanting to go home. Some of the guys were just jerks, but I met my best friend there and we had many excellent adventures over the next many years.

All of that has little to do with my story except to say that in a WIDE OPEN environment I did fine. It was inside of a classroom that I failed to fit in, go by the rules, or "GET IT' about studying. I could pass based on my test scores and did little homework or serious studying.
I was the guy who got such a thrill out of putting a thumbtack on the seat of the desk of the girl in front of me, that I just HAD to see if it worked as well on the teachers chair. Surprise! she had the same reaction.... woohoo !
I was late in discovering girls and had some serious setbacks because of the way I approached them. At first I seemed to go for the flashy types, who already had lots of attention from boys and had little use for my teasing, annoying games. I handled rejection well for a thirteen year old, I guess, and two years later, at the age of fifteen I was ready to try again.
High school was a mess of social clusters and seeming barriers that mostly kept me out. No way I could keep up with the academic types, and was by no means a jock. I can only think of a couple classes I liked, one was an English class taught by the youngest, prettiest woman in the whole school. She somehow managed to ignore the dress codes and wore her skirts high and her blouses cut low. Now I was really distracted!
The second person who got my attention was another English teacher who also coached Drama. My building skills were already pretty well developed, so I built and painted sets for the plays we would put on twice a year. She was a fabulous person, and a bit of a renegade who did not really uphold all the teachings or the Holy Mother Church, but gave us a quality education, nonetheless. I loved drama, though it was populated by brains and nerds. I sometimes got a part when there were more roles than actors, and I tried my best. We worked hard and made much with almost a zero budget. I summoned up great courage one time and stole enough lumber from a housing project to build an entire set. This was a huge load in the back of the parents full sized station wagon! I do not remember anyone asking WHERE it came from. I was so proud to contribute to the cause. truth is, I liked to steal back then, for the thrill, the risk. Same reason we blew up stuff with firecrackers and M-80's. Same reason we burned every Navy ship model we ever built in the fish pond out back. Nothing like recreating the battle of Midway to get your blood pumping. My brother liked burning them too, but I think he might have had a conscience, way back then, and might have known he was destined to be a prosecutor and did not need a criminal record. I just liked the flames and the stinky smoke of plastic burning, and KNOWING that I was outside of what was normal acceptable behavior.
I better post this its getting too long.