Friday, August 1, 2008

Fun outside the office


We were not mean kids, just products of our environment. We never meant any harm. But in your teens you don’t really understand consequences. And living in rural Alabama in the 70’s we did not have the constant entertainment of kids today. We had to go hunting for it or make it up from scratch.

This meant lots of sports; skiing, volleyball, track, basketball, football and Frisbee. This also meant lots of mind games. Sometimes we played them on each other but mostly on the first hapless victim we found. Things I would kill my kids for if I even caught them thinking about it.

For instance, we would get in our cars and go to the four-lane that connected our town with the next one. It was only 5 miles away because in rural Alabama it doesn’t take much of a reason to start a town. We then picked the next car that passed and invited them out to play. By inviting I mean that one of us would drive in front of, behind and beside our victim. We never looked at the other car but proceeded to the next town with our target trapped between us. At the 4-way stop we pulled to the side and let our guest proceed. We then picked the next winner and followed him back.

We meant no harm. We figured that they would get the joke and laugh along with us. It didn’t occur to us until years later that we were terrorizing the citizens of the county. Today cell phones would stop this activity in its tracks. It’s lucky we didn’t end up in jail. Ah, those were simpler times. I hope my kids aren’t reading this.

2 comments:

Karen said...

Imagine doing the same thing with all driving hearses but instead escort them trapped to the funeral home or worse to the nearest cemetary..... at night. That would be hilarious, evil and hilarious.

RhabbKnotte' said...

Absolutely! I like a fresh perspective. Most of the folks I know, I've known for so long, we think a lot alike. Nice hearing a fresh voice... demented, but fresh! LMAO!