A Detention Full of Firsts
I saw a Facebook quiz the other day that almost made me set aside my draconian ban on Facebook quizzes. The questions were all about firsts. It made me think of newborn puppies and toddlers, shiny new shoes and hope. And I thought, how much trouble could I get in taking this?
Here’s how much.
“Who was your first grade teacher?” Not a problem. Mrs. Weimer.
“Whose wedding were you in the first time?” This is fun, isn’t it? My cousin Sandy’s. I was a midget flower girl, 6-years-old with a ratted updo and a petal pink chiffon dress. I believe one of the bridesmaids put a little lipstick on me. Sandy, thank you and I’m sorry.
“First movie you remember seeing?” Easy. Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I had a mother who invented laissez faire parenting when I was born. Every evening she would walk into the living room where I was watching TV and say, “Diane, time for bed.” And I would mutter something about one more minute and she would go into the kitchen and I would start watching the Nine O’ Clock Movie. I got more skilled at putting her off as I got older, so that by the time I was 11 or 12, I was finishing the Nine O’ Clock Movie and getting most of the way through the Late Night Movie. More than once I was creeping up the stairs to the accompaniment of the Star Spangled Banner.
And then I got to this question: “When was your first detention?” and lights started flashing in my head, memories came flooding back, complete with what I was wearing, what all of my female teachers were wearing, and I started down a path where my urge to tell the story of my first detention became overwhelming. The whole scene was now in my head and I could write an after-school special complete with grainy video and vintage ’70s fashions. [Read more…] about A Detention Full of Firsts