I wasn’t much of a rebel as a teen. I never went to jail. I never failed a class. I didn’t get a speeding ticket until I was 19. I didn’t have sex at a crazy young age. But, innocent wouldn’t be a word I’d use to describe my teenage self either. Because, I did go to the principal’s office a few times. I did serve a few detentions for interrupting class and saying inappropriate things. I did skip school on occasion to go get Slurpees from 7-11…and I only got caught once. Oops.
Most of my shenanigans were with done with my best girls. I was very lucky to have a great group of girlfriends who were amazing growing-up {think of the movie Now & Then}. We always were doing crazy things and some of the things we did, I look back on now and crack up – we were definitely a unique bunch trying to all blaze our own paths. We were smart and talented and I am proud of each of them because they DID blaze paths and are doing amazing things today.
But there’s a story here…
Pretty much every weekend, we had sleepovers at one of our houses. We did a lot of the typical tween things – played with the Ouija board (you couldn’t pay me to do that freaky devil crap now!), told ghost stories, went shopping, etc. We also did odd things like play “G.I. Jane” in the rain and physical labor like chopping and stacking wood, in exchange for pizza and movies.
My 12 year-old self…With a bag of Doritos, which also happened to be my nickname.
One weekend, when we were around 12 years old, we weren’t sure what to do. And when young folks get bored, bad things happen. So the Friday before the weekend, we came up with a plot: We were going to smoke cigarettes.
The plan: I would take a cigarette from my grandma (horrible, I know!) and we would go into the woods and all smoke it together. There were four of us. There should have been five, but one of the gals wanted nothing to do with it, smartly.
I vividly remember successfully taking a cigarette from grandma, from a gold box of Benson and Hedges. We went out to the woods near my house, armed with gum, perfume and the cigarette. Sadly, I had seen so many people smoke in my life – my brothers, grandma and even some of the kids at the bus stop – it couldn’t be hard, right?
We anxiously lit it and started to pass it around. {COUGH. COUGH. COUGH. COUGH.} We all coughed as we breathed in the taste of nicotine. We got better though and didn’t cough as much for the second round of drags.
When we were through, we agreed smoking was stupid {THANKFULLY}. It didn’t taste good and we knew we didn’t look cool doing it. Taking in the post-smoke after-stench, we hastily chewed the gum and sprayed the perfume and called it a day.
Years later, us gals smoked clove cigarettes and vanilla cigars on occasion, but amazingly none of us ever got addicted. I guess you could call us very lucky.
Smoking cigarettes was a stupid move for sure, but the tinge of rebel we felt as the often labeled “goody-goody” kids, bonded us and to this day give us something to laugh about. For that, I’m not ashamed.
But, I will tell my girls – get sent to the principal’s office for something stupid like interrupting class. Don’t EVER smoke.
{Disclaimer: I do not condone cigarettes. It’s my opinion that smoking is one of the most stupid things you could ever do to your body and I am sad for the many people in my life who are addicted to those silly cancer sticks. It’s disgusting – period. Oh, and dear daughters? If I ever catch you smoking, I will have your heads. No kids of mine will take up that habit without constant hardship from me.}
Did you ever do something that was completely stupid growing up, just to rebel a bit?
Dianna says
I agree with you, Lauren: I’ve never had a cigarette in my mouth, and for that I am so thankful. I’m also thankful that you & your friends wisely decided that smoking wasn’t something you wanted to do (more than once!).
As for what I to rebel….well, I stayed out later than I should a few times. My mom raised me alone (my dad died when I was a baby), and looking back, I feel really bad for putting her through some of the things I did. (sigh)
have a good day!
Mrs. Weber says
Don’t we all feel bad for things we did to our parents? I am scared for paybacks! I hope Marshall was a good kid for you at least 😉 If not, he certainly is a great guy now!
Rachel says
I’ve never smoked before and figure why try it at this point in my life. But, I did skip class frequently in high school (why go if you are on honor roll anyway) and had my boyfriend (now fiance) over while my mom was at work. I was smart enough to rebel without serious consequences, most of the time. My biggest rebellions always stemmed from my beliefs. I would challenge my teachers and friends if I didn’t believe in what they were telling me to do. It may have gotten me kicked out of class, but it’s now a trait that has helped me in my career.
Mrs. Weber says
Girl, I am with you! Those are a lot of the same kinds of things I pulled. I talked back a few times, but mostly when – exactly like you – I felt I was being challenged and needed to stick up for myself.
Good for you for never smoking! It really is just gross all-around. I admire you for never even giving it a shot 🙂
Erin says
Oh Now and Then . . . such a good movie! It totally makes me think of my college girlfriends. As for the smoking, I tried it too *my head is hanging down in total embarrassment*. I knew better! My grandpa, who was my WORLD, died from cancer. Not to mention I have terrible allergic reactions to smoke!
In high school my best friend and I used to go out to lunch, which wasn’t allowed. Typically we came back to school, but one day we decided to go prom dress shopping. It was so much fun! Oh my, if my kids only knew these terrible things about me!
Mrs. Weber says
I know…I totally need to go get that movie on DVD! So good.
I am going to try to be open with my kids about my little hints of rebellion (I say this now…) if only because I want to be “normal” to them (my own mom WAS a goody-goody!). I’ve been through some hard stuff, but made good decisions for the most part. Smoking was stupid, but I learned a valuable lesson: If they say it’s gross, it probably is 😉 I just hope my kids can have great friends like I was lucky enough to have!
Myrtle says
There are actually a lot of teenagers today that are rebellious and only few of them are like good students.. Well i still enjoy reading your post here..
Jackie says
Oh my… of course! It’s almost a requirement as a teen!
I would write notes to get out of school or when I skipped… they caught on and I couldn’t be excused from school unless my parents called!