A Cat With Nine Lives

 Have you ever felt like a cat with nine lives? You are thinking what does Frankie mean by this?Well then, has there been events in your life where you have thought to yourself ' My oh my that was a close shave'. Maybe these incidents were a matter of life and death experiences. 

The first one was in  1979.  I was playing out in Ardwick Green at the back of my flat. Did you know I stood on the copper Bar inside a Concrete Slab and to my surprise, I slipped off this bar and it banged me straight in the face. My face was throbbing it swelled up because of the force of this bar hitting my face. It could of done a lot more Damage.

The Second Incident happened in 1981, I was playing in Secondary School and I was playing a game in the playground. As I jumped over a wall to grab my friend, I slipped and banged my leg and shinbone.My friends carried me into the Headteacher's room,where I waited with blood gushing out of my shinbone.The scene was horrific. I  was lucky I didn't do more damage to my leg. I was taken to hospital and ended up having several stitches.

The Third Incident took place in 1982, I used to go swimming in a park near my house in Gorton called Debdale Park.  My friends and I decided to go for a swim to the yacht in the middle of the reservoir.Halfway there I lost my breath and started panicking. My friends tried to calm me down, but I continued to struggle for breath and thrashed around in the water. Fortunately, the driver  of  a speedboat had seen me panicking,  my friends trying to calm me down but I am  panicking. He pulled me out of the water and took me back to the shore.

The Fourth Incident was in 1984, I used to hand out in Stockport with my friends,where we got friendly with a couple of guys we used to drink with. We ended up meeting some girls in Stockport, To our surprise we weren't liked by a group of lads down there so one night they decided to jump me and our friends in Stockport town centre. One of my friends was punched in the face by a guy who had knuckle dusters on his hand.This marked my friend's face badly and left blood gushing from his head.By this time, the fight had spilled out onto the road, and luckily for me, I managed to dodge a bus that was moving in my direction by pulling my head back and throwing my body down onto the pavement. That was a close encounter, I said to myself as my back slammed onto the concrete.

The Fifth Incident 1985. I got in a fight with a guy, I punched him and he went straight through a shop window. I was lucky to get away because this wasn't meant to happen -  it was an accident. I was just being racially abused and I reacted..

The Sixth Incident also happened in 1985. A friend of mine was sniffing glue one night on Gorton market, near where I lived.so I had  go for a few hours and decided I didn't want to do that again. It wasn't a nice experience at all. Gas, I found, was more controllable. It gave me a funny buzzing sensation, but this addiction didn't last very long either. I knew it wasn't good for me at all. It made me dizzy,dazed and confused. Both these incidents could have resulted in more dangerous consequences.

The Seventh Incident was three years later - in 1988, When I became addicted  to Speed (Amphetamines). I was in injecting drugs into my arms - this is a very dangerous way to abuse drugs, if you use dirty needles,it can cause septicaemia, known as blood poisoning. You never know what is in the powder: it could be rat poisoning, washing up liquid or flour, but remember some drug dealers may just want your money so you have to trust it is the drug you ordered.If not,it could cause an overdose or even death. I was very fortunate that this did bot happen to me.

The Eighth Incident took place in 1992, near where I lived in clayton. I was  sitting in my mate's car when a man smashed the car window with a stick. The glass shattered in my face but, luckily for me, no serious harm was done: no shards were stuck in my skin, and I did not have any gashes on my face or neck. I was a little shaken up, but this incident could have been a lot more dangerous.

The Ninth  Incident happened in 1996, I took crack cocaine which is a dangerously and Psychologically an addictive drug.

 I remembered all these incidents very clearly because  any of these events certainly could have killed me or caused big effects in my life. I am sure I could have touched on some more events in my life in which I had a narrow escape. Even School years of being Bullied and getting into fights, I always came out unscathed and  victorious.Through all these incidents, I always felt like there was something telling me about my life.

I felt I had a reason to be here, rather than just getting high on drink and drugs, and blaming the world for my problems. I needed to get away from feeling like the victim and start taking full responsibility for my life.

 Growing up in Manchester I had to be streetwise because it wasn't an easy place to live so looking after No one was a must. My first decision to completely transform my life was to go back to Education in 1997 at the age of 27.  My dad advised me to go into the world of Information Technology to learn  Computer Programming. So, I started my First Computer Course in Computer Programming at a College Called Mancat College of Arts and Technology - or Mancat for short.. I was so excited to be going back to school to learn Computers but there was a problem.I found it quite difficult to learn at first. Even more difficult knowing there were students who didn't care and they were messing about all the time. Kids were talking loudly and sitting on the desktops where the computer keyboards were stationed. They were playing games on the computers when they should of been working. My Teacher wasn't the best and ended up making complaints. Despite my complaints, I left with nothing - no certification at all. Undoubtedly,This College wasn't as good as it could have been,but I used it as a stepping stone to do bigger things in IT.

For the Next Step I started a course at an IT Training company called Computeach learning Computer Programming in C.O.B.O.L,which is an abbreviation of  Common  - Business - Orientated- Language. This was  a more difficult course, this was online.However,  I managed to pass two courses in Computer Programming. They were Diploma and City & Guilds Standard Certifications. At some stage I was wondering whether Computer Programming was what I really wanted to do, because I couldn't find work no matter how hard I tried, So I went to pursue Computer Networking course in Salford, where I learnt a lot more about Computers. I worked in Salford for 12 months and then worked at Fujitsu for three months. Did I like it ? No I didn't. I am not criticising the Companies, I just felt it wasn't for me and decided to move  away from working with  Computers.

So I decided I would like to work for a Company called 'Stand-guide'. This was a great company where I  learnt so much about myself. In My Role as a 'Placement Officer, I worked with various organisations to place students in temporary positions at different companies. The students' roles were either work experience or internships. This job led me to better career intentions and more interesting jobs.

I even had six months'experience working as a Civil Servant for the Jobcentre. That was as a Civil Servant for the Jobcentre. That was an experience of a lifetime. The stress levels were so high that if the health and safety officers had visited,they would have closed the place down.Not a good working environment. Arranging direct payments into a customers'bank accounts over the phone proved to be very challenging.

 Funny enough, after that job, I ended up being a Security Officer for the largest Security Firm in the World, G4S. Not only that, I was offered the  responsibility of Management as well which I gladly accepted.. This led me to  acquire some very useful skills, including Customer Service Skills, Customer Care Skills, Conflict Management Skills, and First Aid Skills which gave me the skills to deal with all types of people.I had the responsibility of changing light bulbs, fixing plug sockets, mending damaged furniture,putting up signage in corridor areas of the building, and reporting odd jobs which needed doing.