Ok, here we go and Peter at the controls again. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN was the new motto when punk entered my life. The Sex Pistols and the Clash were new and I just had to go with it. What the hell, I had holes in my ears, and a few chains hanging from my mouth didn't bother me. Torn jackets and general trash, that was me then and I just had to try it. Now my mum and dad were falling over backwards again, probably thinking "what the hell has he come up with now?". Like Emil in Lönneberga, haha.
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They say I don't give a shit, but I don't give a shit.
It was only two months until I was chased on Sveavägen in Stockholm by cars that wanted to kill me, so I just had to run for my life. But I tried, and I got away, phew. At the same time, I started upper secondary school and met new friends. I started the DK line, which was distribution and office, and how fun was that? My older brother went to the fancy sales line in three years, which I couldn't live up to with the grades I had, and I got into the degraded DK line.
I had now been earning money for a year and got into a programme that I found zero interest in. Magnus Uggla came out with "Varning på stan" and I had a boom box (portable stereo) that I took to school every day to escape what I didn't want to study, in pure protest. No money and a completely useless line.
The new friends I met were guys who sat and drove around Stockholm lap after lap in their cool and very stylish pick-up cars, and the new style was leather pie and jeans. We drank alcohol in the back seat and partied hard during the autumn and the car was the gem, but it was nothing more. I quit both school and the pick-up line for Christmas. The ragging didn't get anywhere except for 50 laps around the city every Saturday and school didn't give me anything, so what is there now in the big wide world?
I am moving
I took a job selling rubber mouldings in a shop in the middle of Stockholm called Kuntze & Co to get money. I met a girl on the archipelago island of Blidö who I was dating and after six months she was going to move to Älvsjö in Stockholm to study.
She got to live in a villa on the third floor where they had daytime offices on the bottom two floors, so when I was 17 and six months old I went home and said I was moving. I have never seen my mum cry so much for weeks so it was very difficult. On the other hand, my mum and I have been very close, and it didn't make sense to her that I would move before my older brother.
I cried myself to sleep many nights at that time but now I had to try my own wings, and so it was. My dad had taught me that you stand for things you do and say, so the decision was made.
Military yeast, ajaj Capt.
We lived in Älvsjö for a year and then moved to Upplands Väsby and lived with my older brother and his girlfriend (now his wife). I had a fairly quiet period for just over a year and now it was time for the military service. Being forced to play war, and walk in step, and not being allowed to go home when I wanted to, of course, did not suit me. I went to the infirmary every morning for three months because the plan was to get out of there because I felt so bad. My plan fell apart.
My captain, whose name was Ågren and who was known as one of the last real soldiers in Sweden, had a chat with me. He said that there was courage in me to go to the infirmary every morning with determination and not give up, and such a person was needed in his group, so he made me group leader.
In retrospect, it was really smart of him, because all of a sudden I got responsibility and I couldn't leave other friends behind, so I was a real fighter. I would win everything we did in our group and that was my goal. I accepted the situation and it went very well in the end.
Moving and making a mess again
Home again and new different jobs that I left every now and then. My girlfriend and I were offered our own second-hand apartment in Jakobsberg (north-west Stockholm) where I had lived half my life. It was a one-bedroom flat that we could rent and we took it. After a year, the relationship broke up and I tried to manage on my own with bills and everything, but it didn't work.
I met a new girl who was the younger sister of my first love and it wasn't very popular with her parents either, but if you're in love, you're in love. I moved in with my dad and mum and it was so incredibly difficult to have failed in life, so that you had to move "home" again.
New job and new opportunities
In 1982 I got a job at H&M in Jakobsberg in the men's department, which I enjoyed very much. I have always liked fashion and contact with people. I met a new girl at H&M with whom I later had my son (Robin) and I got my driving licence. We got a flat, I was in love and the job went very well with great workmates, 2 guys and the rest girls.
Throughout my life I have spent more time with girls than boys because I think girls are more mentally interesting. I did well at H&M in Järfälla, north-west of Stockholm, and senior managers wanted me to go to the city centre stores and become some kind of manager, but that wasn't my plan because I was looking for a sales job.
Now you can tell us about your life between 17-24 years old or tell us about something positive from the week!
Good jobs, becoming a father, being cheated on and divorce will be in the next 'Happy Friday'.
Did you miss the last Happy Friday? Read the Hot in Malta
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Lennart says:
Great fun to follow your childhood!
If I had time, I would write a book, it would be fun for many people.
We shall see.
14 October 2016 - 6:23
åsa in åsele says:
Wow, what an eventful and interesting life you've had in such a short time 🙂.
Very nice to know more about you 🙂 .
14 October 2016 - 7:29
None says:
When I was 17, my father in Los Angeles gave me an ultimatum: if I go home to my mum in Sweden for Christmas, I never have to return! I studied as an exchange student at Van Nuys High School (where Clint Eastwood, Paula Abdul and others went) I landed in snowy Stockholm on the first of January and my mother panicked. "You're underage, there are no jobs for you and school is eight months away!" She had faxed my photos to her new husband's aunt who lived in Kyoto, Japan to see if there were any jobs for me, she was a model scout. Honestly, I felt quite betrayed by both mother and father, but on the 10th of February I landed at Kansai Airport and had the time of my life. I had no contact with my father until I turned 26!
14 October 2016 - 7:33
Anette Åhnbrink says:
Oh dear, how did you manage everything? Fun to read anyway, and I think my little high school life in Sundsvall at club Priv'e is not close! On the other hand, I went to the USA as an au-pair after high school, and we can say that what happens in L A stays in L A !!!! Have a nice weekend in Norrköping, we go to Askersund and meet Libertysowner!
14 October 2016 - 8:51
Mr Steve says:
Great reading. You have taken the turns quite properly, I can note, but of course you are standing firm today with all these experiences behind you. The "adventurer" in you seems to be alive because you dare to take out the turns even today.
Between 17-24, well, what did I do then? I was probably a much more "cautious general" and there wasn't much going on up there in Sollefteå. Football and ice hockey took up much of my time. And school, of course, which I managed well. A driving licence was a big thing, so there was a lot of gliding around town. Girls took more and more space and they came and they went.
The raid on the I21 in my home town was an interesting experience, but not something I went in for even though I was selected as an officer. But no, it was not for me. There was one month of training in 1976, and then my military career was over.
Did I never work in my youth? Yes, I worked a lot and always at my parents' petrol station.
I had my first car and a tour of Europe before I "fled" Norrland (which I came to love later in life) in 1972 to study in Uppsala. At 24, I had suddenly become "worldly" and new challenges lay ahead. Then I stayed in Uppsala for 23 years, until 1997. But that's another story.
PS You make me think back to my own youth, which I appreciate. It's actually quite fun to "dig into" the past for a while. Preferably when the past has been good.
14 October 2016 - 9:34
ghoul says:
Exciting! It's important to stand your ground as a parent! From what I understand, you've done well in life. We must all have experiences! Nice weekend to you both??
14 October 2016 - 9:38
Ama de casa says:
You write so interestingly about your life, Peter! Captivating reading 🙂 And a smart military there in the middle, indeed. I didn't think that existed 😉 .
I moved from Skellefteå to Norrköping when I was 17 and trained to be a poo rake (officially the programme was called "Zoo keeper for zoos"). Took two years to learn to rake everything from guinea pig poo to elephant poo. Moved home to my mum for six months and waited for Anders to finish his education. I managed to get by with small jobs like counting fish in a fish farm and substituting at Lycksele Zoo. Then we moved to Stockholm where I started working as an animal carer at Skansen. My dream job had always been to work with animals 🙂.
This week I have been happy to meet so many good friends again after 6 weeks on the road in the USA 🙂 .
14 October 2016 - 10:27
JoY says:
Not many quiet moments. The military really made a smart move and got you on board. Fun to read.
I also left home when I was 17 and started working at Karolinska Hospital at the same time.
Hugs
14 October 2016 - 11:17
nils-åke says:
Fun to read about others' upbringing. 17-24 I had dropped out of boarding school in Uppsala did not dare to go home moved to Virsbo in Västmanland got a job directly at the mill. (Good school because I stayed in the engineering industry until retirement.) Moved home to mother got a job the same day. Screwed on cars in my spare time. Partied was out dancing and girls. Imagine how easy everything was in those days
14 October 2016 - 11:18
Peter Bergström says:
Lennart: good to hear that you like it and writing is very nice mentally I think, so why not. Have a good weekend.
Åsa in Åsele: what a seeker I was or curious and I still am. I'm glad you like what I write and it makes me a bit proud. I wish you a nice weekend and week Åsa.
Inga: Wow what a story and glad you want to share. There are a lot of things our parents want for us, but it doesn't always go as they have planned. Everything usually works out in the end and it has done so for you too, and with fun memories. Have a great week Inga and thank you for a nice read.
Anette Åhnbrink: We have bought crabs and crayfish for the whole weekend so we will just enjoy good food and the motorhome. One day we will take what stayed in L A, but we do it when we run into each other at a car park. Have a great weekend and tell everyone else too.
Steve: Thanks Steve for letting me have a moment with you and a bit of your life. I myself think it's fun to look back and get a little nostalgic for a while, but I was not wise anywhere, haha. Have a great week Steve and thank you.
Ghugge: thank you for appreciating my writing and have a nice weekend.
Ama de Casa: Hahahahahahahahaha, What line and are you now an expert on animal poo? I mean if you walk in the forest, can you tell which animal has pooped? Counting fish, hahah. What wonderful jobs there are. Lovely reading and I get a good laugh. Thank you and have a cosy week.
14 October 2016 - 11:25
Peter Bergström says:
Joy: The military had pretty good experience after thousands of young people so he knew how to reach them. It is hardly possible to leave home today at 17 so we had it easier in the past in terms of housing. Have a nice week and a cosy weekend.
Nils-Åke: It was actually easier and simpler in many ways. From the 50s there were only opportunities in Sweden until now. It was in the air that I can do what I want but still end up with my feet down. Fun reading and I'm glad you shared with us. Have a nice week.
14 October 2016 - 11:34
Marina says:
Wow, there were many recognisable smiles during that reading! Have a good Friday 🙂
14 October 2016 - 11:52
Ditte says:
Interesting reading and I can only conclude once again that you learn in the school of life too. Very much!
As for the military, I had a father like your "captain" and he organised many of them. A good heart can also be found among many soldiers.
Between 17 and 24! Yes, I was in high school, a frequent student but hung out at the Storken visprånen as a 17-19 year old and listened to Cornelis and FRed Åkerström who started their career there, in the cloakroom.
He graduated in 1968 and had spent a few summers travelling around Europe by car and plane.
Worked as a gudie in Stockholm, was a tour guide in Tunisia and Greece.
At 21, my first job as a gymnastics director in Upplands Väsby, then newly graduated, own apartment. Until 24, many ski trips to the Alps, summer trips in Europe, car, driving licence and lots of fun.
14 October 2016 - 12:22
Imelda says:
Wow, what a mess you've made, of course you should try your wings! You were absolutely right! I met my current husband and had our first daughter before I turned 21 and our second the following year. Ha ha ha, real babies, many people probably think, but that's how it ended. I have always been determined that I would have two children before I turned 25 and so it was. Now we have a wonderful little Alice, our first grandchild, who keeps us busy when we're not travelling by camper van. The daughter is more in favour of having two before she turns 30 😀.
14 October 2016 - 12:58
Across the board says:
It's nice to hear about your childhood and that with your varied background things have gone so well for you (now I sound like a really old lady....)
I won't tell you about the week because it's not a fun read at all.
Have a nice Friday evening!
14 October 2016 - 14:36
Peter Bergström says:
Marina: How nice to be able to offer a smile on Friday. Have a nice weekend.
Ditte: What to say about your life journey. I would need two lives if I am to have as much time as you. Lovely reading as usual from you. Take care of yourself.
Imelda: Determined with what you wanted is one way to go and it feels like you knew that early on. I might need some of that too. My little ones are 20 and 29 and I may have to wait with grandchildren for a while. nice weekend and week.
Across the board: I haven't gotten much for free in life but I've never given up either. I enjoy living and exploring. I wish you a better week ahead and a nice weekend.
14 October 2016 - 15:41
BP says:
Absolutely love your life Peter, or well, the way you write about it today. School was obviously not your thing, but girls were. You went all out and I think you laugh a lot when you think back to your youth. Or you don't understand how you could act the way you did;-) Love it:-)
Between 17 and 24 I managed to graduate, leave home, study for a year in Paris and get married for the first (but not only) time. Compared to you, I lived the life of a nun;-) But after the divorce at 28, I lived much like you - minus the military service and the fact that I didn't move back to my mum and dad.
14 October 2016 - 17:19
Ruth in Virginia says:
Between 17 and 19 I went to Handels in Norrköping, lived in a dormitory, studied, played handball for IFK, went to a technical school and met lots of nice guys.
19 years - Secretary at Irano-Swedish Co. in Stockholm. Got an apartment in Traneberg in a house owned by my director. A handball mate from IFK shared the apartment with me. We had no furniture and slept on the floor until we got our first salaries. Worked at a hotel by Skeppsbron on weekends, folded boxes at a chocolate factory.
My best friend from Handels got pregnant, got married, but he had to do his military service, so she had no place to live. Of course she had to stay with us. Imagine three girls and a newborn in an apartment consisting of a kitchen, dining area and living room!
1948 - Holidayed on Gotland with my IFK friends. Met a classmate from Handels who, in addition to doing his military service on Gotland, also played dance music at Snäckgärdsbadens hotel. After completing his military service on Gotland, he became a cadet at Karlberg. We became a couple and got engaged on my 21st birthday in 1949. Unfortunately, my roommate became insane and disappeared. Without a roommate, it was fitting that the fiancé moved in. Living together without being married was considered highly immoral in those days. But then, early in 1951, the fiancé was ordered to do 6 weeks as a reserve officer. When he was no longer present, I felt a great sense of relief. Not that he was in any way dominant, but rather suddenly I was free. It was then that I decided that our engagement had to be broken off. It was very difficult, because he was a very nice person, intelligent and kind; a mother-in-law's dream. But as I said, you do what you have to do - then came the USA.
I apologise for writing so much. Your memories stirred me.
Glad I wasn't your flatterer! 🙂
14 October 2016 - 18:33
Lena - good for the soul says:
Exciting reading. To some extent, again, quite similar to me. I also have punk for a while. Green hair, purple hair, blue hair and so on. And black of course. A lot of black! Especially around the eyes. Hahaha, yes yes what to test then. I also went the DK line. I chose the least boring of the shortest lines. Did not want to study. But I have more than made up for it in recent years. I've actually always had an easy time at school, but I wanted to earn money.
And I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, even though I'm over 50, haha.
Funny, by the way, that you were first chased by the hooligans and then became part of the gang!
Hug Lena
14 October 2016 - 18:39
Matts Torebring says:
What a story! I recognise myself in the militant environment. We had to shoot snipers at figures in the terrain with a submachine gun. I emptied all 36 shots in a few seconds a few metres ahead of me in the snow. Lieutenant Björk was so angry with me that he was shaking and shouting. "I'm not interested," I said.
14 October 2016 - 20:57
Peter Bergström says:
Hi BP: Yes, how to say this. I'm obviously glad that you like the fact that I let loose, and I agree with you because I never thought, I just did. It was possible in the past and there were no drugs involved, no hurting others, I just lived and was happy. That time will never come back and I am so glad I got to experience it and that is my foundation today, HAPPY. I would like to hear a bit about your time as a 28 year old, but we take it personally in another life, haha. Have a wonderful week.
Ruth in Virginia: WOW! I am so happy to get to know you online. You can write this far every Friday and I won't be the only one reading it, I promise. I heard lots of stories from my grandmother, great-grandmother, great-great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother when I was little, and I loved it. You should know that no matter what I did, the respect for my paternal and maternal grandparents was huge, and I had a very good relationship with them and wonderful memories. They also have a big part of what I am today as a person. Thanks for sharing Ruth and I'm glad I opened some doors again up there. Warm hugs to you all week long. Peter.
Lena-Good for the soul: You put your finger on it! I wanted to earn money at the time and it was so wrong because it was the shortest route, which many young people take today. Had I known better, you study in the beginning to build on your knowledge and live well later, but that was then and it worked then. I finally know what I want at the age of 56 and that is to work with social media and digital marketing. I will do it for the rest of my life because I understand it and I understand all the codes. I see an exciting future and I will be part of it. Between us punks, haha. Have a great week and we need to talk sometime about punk time.
14 October 2016 - 21:29
Peter Bergström says:
Matts Torebring: Hahahaha, I wonder what Lieutenant Björk is doing today? But we have to admire him for going into his job. What a protest from you! Well, now I have a youth protest from you Matts but it came later than from me. We all put our feet down at some point during our upbringing when it goes against our values in life. fun and straightforward post from you. Have a good week and keep building your idea that you are doing, I'm rooting for you.
14 October 2016 - 21:37
Ama de casa says:
sv: Haha! No, I'm not so good at animal poop in the forest, it's much easier to know the poop when you know which animal should reasonably have pooped there 🙂 But I'm pretty good at recognising the animals themselves, and probably a little above average at birds 🙂
Aren't there some wonderful jobs? My first paid job was as a balloon blower at Domus. But it was not those funny helium balloons, no we had to use a vacuum cleaner where they had put the hose in the outlet 🙂 .
15 October 2016 - 10:25
Elisabeth says:
Nice to share your life. My liberation took other turns with a lot of dancing. At 18, on my way to a dance, I was hit by a tram and had to fight for my life. This changed a lot and I decided to help others, as I had been helped. I later applied to the School of Social Work in Örebro. Then there were jobs in social care, prison care and then, in connection with the Work Environment Act 1978, I applied for and started working at a large company, Televerket.
15 October 2016 - 10:53