By the time I was about 5, I had pretty much decided I hated girls . . . and I no longer wanted to be associated in any way with them . . . even to the point that if you even CALLED me a girl, I'd take a swing.
I can trace it back to a single person: Patty (no clue what her last name was)
Patty was in my kindergarten class, and she was THAT girl . . . you know who I'm talking about . . . the girl that all the other girls wanted to hang out with . . . the girl all the other girls wanted to BE!!
I'd had trouble with her all year anyway because I just didn't like girl games . . . preferring to play baseball and climb the monkey bars with the boys. Then came that day when I peed in my pants . . . in my seat in the classroom . . . and she made so much fun of me! My dad had to come to school that day with my skivvies in a brown paper bag . . . I was horrified on both accounts.
The straw that broke the camel's back, however, happened on Valentine's Day. When I was in school, we were all required to make a special Valentine's card or gift for our parents. We usually made ashtrays. Weird, I know . . . but back in the 60's it seemed everyone smoked! Funny thing about those ashtrays too . . . they were generally made of clear glass, and we kids would glue a picture of ourselves to the bottom with a heart background . . . parents ground out their cigarettes into the kids' faces.
. . . I still think that's weird!
Anyway, Valentine's Day . . . Patty was in charge of passing out the construction paper and the little paper doilies every kid used for Valentine's cards . . . she was in charge of EVERYTHING that year! Pretty sure she grew up to be a sorority girl and then a PTA mom too . . . either that, or as a wino in a gutter because she could no longer handle the pressure.
Sorry . . . and no, I'm not bitter anymore :)
. . . oh look I used a smiley face!
So, as Patty stopped by the desks, she gave red paper to the boys and pink paper to the girls. When she got to me and put down a pink piece of paper, I handed it back to her and told her I wanted red. She snubbed her nose at me and said "Only the boys are getting red; girls have to use pink!" I told her I wanted red because I didn't like pink, but she ignored me and went about her business. When she was finished, she returned the unused paper to the teacher's desk and sat back down. I immediately got up and went to the teacher, asking for red. Of course she complied . . . what did she care!
Patty was appalled when she noticed I'd gotten red (she sat almost next to me). After that, I was persona non grata in her world . . . and she made sure all of the other girls shunned me too! I really didn't care anyway.
Some days I wish I could remember her last name so I could search for her . . . I wouldn't be ugly or mean since I really harbor no ill feelings these days. However, if she were on Facebook, I'd send her something red every day.
"It takes courage to grow up and turn out to be who you really are." ~ E. E. Cummings
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