Sometimes I think of things from my past and wonder how the heck I got away with that.
Take 8th grade. I caught a baby corn snake in the parking lot of where I lived. I was living with my dad at the time, and we put it in a box and I took it to school to give to the biology teacher, who had several snakes already, one of which was a corn snake. (in our area, if someone had found it, they’d have killed it)
So it was “my” snake in a sort of adopt-a-zoo-animal sense, but it lived in the biology classroom. I sometimes took it home over weekends to visit.
But the part that surprises me is that sometimes the biology teacher would let me come in the morning and take the snake out… and I’d just keep him with me for the day, through all of my classes. Then bring him back about lunchtime. I distinctly remember having him poking out of my shirt and climbing in my hair during English class, for example. How did I get away with that?? I don’t recall any of my teachers complaining.
My senior year of high school, I rented a one bedroom apartment near the school (hooray for being 18!) and so I often went home for lunch. Or I ditched class and went home, on occasion. Well one time after lunch I brought my new kitten back to school with me. I only had drama after lunch (a two-hour class) but even so… I don’t even remember what I did with her while we were rehearsing [No Exit by Sartre, if anyone is interested. I played Inez] but I guess that someone played with her while I was onstage or something.
When I was in college, I sometimes carried a sword in a scabbard at my side. No one ever said anything about it. Could I get away with that today?!
When I was a sophomore in college, I smoked a lot. I gradually became very cavalier about carrying a pipe in one breast pocket of my Levi’s jacket and a bag in the other. I wore the jacket everywhere, of course. But worse yet was one evening three years later, in another city, when I stopped at a convenience store on my way home, opened my purse, and a bag simply fell out. The contents did not, though. I know the cashier saw it, but since we were on friendly terms, he said nothing as I returned the bag to a more secure spot and completed my purchase.
Hey, Rilch, when I first read your story, I had this vision of you walking around with this Sherlock Holmes style of jacket and pipe (complete with the proper hat) and I thought, “Don’t hear of many women smoking a pipe.” Then it dawned on me what you were talking about. :smack:
Oddly enough, I was mugged once shortly after buyung two ounces of pot (this was the 80’s, and thing were far cheaper). They got my virtually empty wallet and never checked my backback.
But as the cops were interviewing me I started to freak and shake, thinking the cops would find some reason to ask to look in my bag. They didn’t, and wrote off my nervousness to a reaction being mugged and knifed (a very small gash on my chin).
When I was in college I was once pulled over by the police at 2 in the morning after purchasing some dope. Apparently I hadn’t stopped long enough at a red light before turning right. This could’ve been true, I was way too high and stupid that night. They made me get out of the car and shined a flashlight in my face. One of them told me to open my bag, 'cause he wanted to look for a concealed weapon! I was so scared that this seemed like a perfectly reasonably request. Of course I had totally spaced-out the fact that there was a bag of dope sitting right on top of everything in my purse. They confiscated my dope, gave me a warning ticket for the red light, and sent me on my way. I don’t know why I wasn’t arrested.
[hijack]
I want to know about the sword Opal carried around in college.
[ul]What kind of sword was it? (rapier, smallsword, broadsword, etc.)
How did she carry it? (belt, baldric with a frog on the belt, baldric alone, etc.)
Was there an attendant costume? (I don’t even want to guess.)
Why carry a sword in the first place?[/ul][/hijack]
It wasn’t AGAINST THE RULES or anything…but how we got through all 18 years without breaking anything still amazes me. Among our activities…
1.) Chipping golf balls over the street using real equipment.
2.) Booting soccer balls against a retaining wall, occationally kicking it over the wall right onto a neigbors basement window.
3.) Hitting homemade hockey pucks into the garage door.
4.) Playing fast pitch baseball with tennis balls aiming for the house across the street (We hit some ROCKETS)
5.) Tackle football…nuff said.
The closest I ever came was chipping a golf ball from a neighbors yard across the street to mine. My club hit a root and the ball flew…straight for the back windshield of my neighbors car traveling a good 30-40 MPH :o. Luckey it just glanced off of the side panel and rocketed into their garage door. No serious damage done.
