Teen Angst

I saw a T-shirt once that said "Forget about the Fountain of Youth. How about a Fountain of Smart?" I liked it. I don't understand why anyone would want to be young forever or even young again.

I am acquainted with someone who says her teen years were a lot of fun. She's entitled to her opinion, of course. It's just not the same as mine.

I don't remember teenhood being much in the way of fun and games. I was the oldest of six kids, which automatically made me the dogsbody, loaded with responsibility. After 8th grade I quit taking homework home becuz I didn't have time to do it. Riding herd on three kids with chores to do, babysitting the two youngest kids, washing dishes and cooking supper was a very typical after-school activity. There wasn't time for much else.

I was my mother's Girl Friday unless my stepdad was home. He was a truckdriver and I was second-in-command when he was out in the truck. When he was home he liked to sit at the dining room table, put down a twelve-pack, and bitch. One time he told me "Stop yelling at those kids. You're not their mom." I put down what I was doing and said "Okay, you yell at them." I walked away from a sinkful of dishes and a pot of boiling water that would have been tuna- and- noodles.

I went out to the woods and hid until I knew Mom would be home. Just another headache for her to deal with when she got home. That was one of his favorite things to do to me. Take away my authority but leave me with all the responsibility. How I came to hate that. Needless to say, he and I were not friends.

All of us kids knew to stay away from him if he was drinking a twelve-pack. We just found other places to be.

Our relationship improved after I left home. As I aged I learned that there was a name for people like him: alcoholic.

One good thing about having such a crappy life as a teen is that it kept me away from drugs. I'd heard about getting 'hooked' on drugs and had seen it happen to a couple of girls at school.
I figured with my personal problems I'd be a shoo-in for addiction. I avoided it during my teen years only to have it sandbag me when I was in my 30's.

Maybe I was smarter when I was a teenager. I still don't want to relive those years.