Hazing, swirleys, and guys from Gary

Recently a young man died because of "hazing", an initiation procedure of varying degrees of meanness done to the new guy, or in college, the freshman. That caused me to think of an incident from my youth.

I was a young man from a very tough neighborhood in Gary, Indiana. I learned about the hazing process when I attended Olivet Nazarene College, now called Olivet Nazarene University. Olivet is a christian liberal arts college located in Bourbonnais, Illinois, USA. 
At Olivet College, the initiation was called a swirly. The head of the freshman was stuck in a toilet, and the toilet was flushed, creating a swirling effect; hence the name. When confronted with a threaghtening group, many freshmen went willingly. Some were forced.

Guys from Gary were normally not initiated. Our tough city background normally frightened the hazers away. But this year one group decided to take on what they thought was the toughest one (I have no idea how they made that judgement!) to be sure every freshman was hazed.
In a brave attempt, 10 guys tried to give me a swirly. They stormed my room and threw a blanket over me to keep me from hitting them. The blanket didn't stop my hands from finding one of the 63 nerve points I had learned of in judo classes, specifically the Achilles heel, and pinching them sharply.
2 or 3 athletic young men screaming and jumping back in pain was a wonderful deterrent for the rest of the group. I was not initiated.
There were 6 freshmen that were NOT initiated. Five of them, including myself, were from Gary, Indiana. The 6th one claimed to be from Gary.

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Alan and Tim

This is Alan Camden in front, my brother Tim Dittmer in back. I got to play with this proficient band only once at a Gary Indiana Emerson High School music contest, 1965 or 66, because pianos aren't portable.
As I watched them perform walking back and 
forth across the stage I learned a great lesson: ALWAYS BUY THE LONGEST GUITAR CHORDS AVAILABLE.
We three also played for a friend of mine during that same contest. Her name was Jennifer, an eighth grader who was a classical soprano with a full range voice. She sang the song The End of the World.
Because of her interest in music, and the fact that we had the same lunch hours,  my eighth grade friend Jennifer and I met everyday for lunch, even though I was Senior. This caused a great deal of stress for her boyfriend.
Tim, my brother, was an excellent musician, guitarist, vocalist with the ability to harmonize.
Alan was a gifted guitarist. I was there when he first started picking up the guitar, and within weeks of first starting he was playing a style I now recognize as the Chet Atkins style. He would pick out the melody, and simultaneously also pick an alternating bass and chords.
He was so good at that style that when I first heard Chet Atkins years later, I briefly wondered if Chet stole the style from Alan.