Saturday, May 1, 2010

A Sweet Memory

As one of nine siblings growing up in a low-income (sometimes no-income) family, I had learned to accept my circumstances, but that didn't stop me from drooling at the penny candy counter of Porlier Street Market. Knowing that it was “not in the budget,” I spent a lot of time window-shopping, rather than buying. Seeing other kids load up on candy necklaces, licorice whips, and Sixlets was pure torture. Imagine my joy, one summer day, to have found a shiny nickel on my way to the store for Mom. I skipped all the way there, where I cheerfully offered the glittery disk in exchange for the ultimate; a shiny sleeve of colorful “Rain-blo” gumballs. Rain-blo gum was actually like having five pieces of heaven with only one purchase!

Giddy with anticipation, I popped the red sphere in my mouth before I was even out the door. I savored the gloriously sweet cherry flavor. In a hurry, and not wanting to share with any of my siblings, I quickly swallowed the lump and moved on to the green one. Ah, sweet green apple! Half a block later, I swallowed my prize and quickly moved on to the next; wonderful, tart lemon-yellow. By the time I got home, my wrapper, a smile, and a colorful tongue was all that was left. Satisfied, I stuffed the evidence into my pocket and moved on.

Later (in the middle of the night) I woke up, my gut churning. Before I could make it to the bathroom, my stomach rebelled involuntarily, resulting in a large puddle of vomit on the hallway floor. Bleary-eyed, Mom appeared. Recognizing the too-familiar green-faced kid standing over a malodorous puddle, she disappeared, returning with a wet cloth and a bucket. It was then that I noticed that this was no ordinary vomit. Scattered in the midst of the usual “stuff” was a little red blob, a little green blob, a little yellow blob…you get the picture. I don’t remember why, but this troubled me. It was probably because everyone knows you’re not supposed to swallow your gum, and I feared Mom’s reaction. To my relief, she simply stated, in a low but emphatic tone, emphasizing each word, “No-More-Gum-For-You, Young-Lady!”

As I wrote this post, towards the end, I realized that there is more to this story and the reason I remember it so well. Actually, I remember now that I had not bought the gum with a shiny nickel. I don’t remember any nickel at all. It is more likely that I had actually stolen the gum. That would explain my haste to consume it before getting home. It would explain my horror at seeing the evidence in my spew, and it would explain the reason I never forgot it. I remember Mom’s statement clearly, most likely because I had gotten away with something. She had seen the evidence but had not recognized it as such. She was, thank God, too tired in the middle of the night to question where I had gotten it. I had dodged a moral bullet.

I’d like to tell you that I never shoplifted again; that my poor little conscience was so ashamed, that the fear of almost getting caught taught me a lesson. It didn’t; it took me a few more years to learn that one. But that’s another post….

I'd love to hear one of your childhood confessions...
[This post was first drafted and published August 1, 2007.]

19 comments:

  1. I love reflections from childhood. Good post!

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  2. I stole a piece of candy from the Brach's Pick-a-Mix once. My parents found out and marched me back to the store, where I had to pay for what I took and ask them to please not call the police. I spent all afternoon sitting in the chair for that one.

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  3. Let's see, for starters my sister and I tied my brother up and threw him in the closet when we were little..........

    We also made him but on my moms bra nd underwear.

    Need you hear more?

    He is now gone from this world , so I can't ask for forgiveness...and no it was not our fault!

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  4. I'm sure I did something (my siblings tell me I was such a brat!), but for the life of me I can't think of anything!

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  5. I admire your honesty in this post. I know when I was quite young I did not have an opportunity or a thought of taking something. But I did in eighth grade. And was punished by the principal. Yikes. I can't imaging living in a family with that many siblings.

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  6. I love this post! Amazing how sometimes puking is all the discipline we need!

    When I was 15 and had my learner's permit, my parents would sometimes let me drive without an adult. Around this time my mom had a hysterectomy and was laid up in bed for two weeks. She let me use the car to run errands, and I drove over a cement parking block, of course scraping the bottom of the car in a tremendous fashion.

    I didn't tell her about it until about 7 years later!

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  7. Mine's probably similar to yours except that when I was 5 or 6 years old. I stole some wax crayons from another girl at school. I remember she always had the nicest school supplies and I usually had the most basic things possible. She had these bright neon coloured crayons that I wanted. Now, when I coloured, my crayons always broke and somehow this girl never broke her crayons, ever. So after nabbing them, I quickly broke them all in half so they wouldn't be recognized. A few days later she caught me colouring with them and told the teacher. I tried to claim they were mine and my mum had bought me a pack too, but I wasn't believed and was forced to give them back. Actually, looking back, I was a very well behaved child usually and I'd never done something like that before or after, and it seems strange to me that the teacher did NOT believe my story, so I think she may have seen me do it. She never told my parents, and neither did I for quite a few years, but I felt so bad and guilty about it that I finally told them a few years later when I was about nine or so. They didn't punish me, I think they figured living in guilt for four years was enough, and I felt way better and was able to forget about it after that (until you had to just remind me of course... kidding :p)

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  8. i am actually realising i don't have very many childhood memories for some reason. although i did get really, really good at playing sick so i could skip school. either my mom wasn't paying enough attention, or just wasn't bothered... so i have fond memories of spending days hanging out in unused rooms at our church, reading books from the library or colouring or something (my mom worked at the preschool our church ran). those were good times.

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  9. I once thought it would be oh so cool to change the sugar in the sugar bowl with salt for my dad who loved to load his mornin' cereal with the sweet delight. I was young and it was April Fools day. Daddy did not find the humor in my little prank! Heeehehehe!

    God bless ya and have a great weekend. Take care of yourself and heal up.

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  10. Porlier Street Market! I used to love the really long, flat, multi-colored taffy! Yummmmmy

    As far as your future shop lifting post goes...I remember that also!

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  11. That was a very wonderful post ..I think learning from our mistakes is the hardest part of them

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  12. when i was three i accidentally dropped the entire toilet paper roll into the toilet. i just shut the lid and pretended somebody else did it which didn't really work since i'm an only child. i'm glad i got that off my chest. :)

    found your blog through a friend's blog and glad to be following!

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  13. Just in the mood to comment here, rather than via email, because your stories are so great. Alabaster Cow, Amie, Teresa, Coby, Technobabe, Carolee, Amy, each of your stories is so sweet. And heartwarming. Teresa, yours really touched me, because I have a student who lives in poverty and never has anything new, but he has a lot of character and is very hardworking. I wish I could buy that kid something nice :)

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  14. Ha! I did something very similar. I stole pieces of Bazooka bubble gum from our corner store. The big pink rectangles, individually wrapped and had a comic strip inside.

    My mom and I had stopped in for a loaf of bread or something and I (like you) went to drool over the penny candy. Since I knew my mom would say no I put a few pieces in my hand and kept my hand shut until we were out of the store. When I was climbing into the back seat a piece slipped out of my hand and my mom noticed it. Of course she knew I had just stolen it....she marched me back in where I had to apologize to Miss Vera at the counter and give it back. Bless Miss Vera....she thanked me for my apology and told me that for coming back and being honest I could keep the candy. Not sure THAT was what my mom was going for but every time I went into that store I made sure my hands were visible and empty!

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  15. There are no outstanding warrants for Mrs4444. Looks like you are clear to resume your journey. Just stay mindful of the posted limits.

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  16. I, too, am from a large family...7 children in 11 years, & a blue-collar dad bringing the income. We weren't quite poverty-level, though we took our turn on foodstamps when he was laid off in the 80s.

    Before that, when there were only 5 or 6 siblings & I was in the 1st grade, I stole some other children's lunch or ice cream money. I remember those neat little change purses that were rubbery ovals with a slit in the middle. They would open when you squeezed the ends. I took this money to the convenience store with my mom & she managed to get me to confess to what I had done. I had to take the money back to school & tell the teacher what I had done...horrifying!

    It wasn't in my nature to do such a thing, so I imagine it was envy of "stuff" that other kids had & I didn't. I didn't ever feel "poor" but I knew we were lucky to have food on the table. I guess I just wanted more. I'm now blessed with "more" physical stuff; though we're not "rich", we certainly don't struggle. I'm working hard to teach my children the lessons of my own childhood, that "more" isn't always better! A big family full of love is what it's all about!

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  17. Man that is a great story, prolly why you got sick, you felt aweful about it...

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  18. Cute story Barb:) I remember Lynn and I and some friends stealing zingers from the Dolly Madison store on our way home from school and our Mom making us return them. Also Tanner stole a caramel from the gas station when he was about three. We got in the car and he goes, "Mom, so you want a bite?" with a little giggle, I drove right back and made him tell them what he did. I was kind of mad that they said, "oh, he can keep it" I said NO:)

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  19. I once stole a kiddy ring from Wal-Mart. I have never stolen anything else though. It's like I think God will strike me with a lightning bolt or something. One time Hubby and I left Wal-Mart after spending $200 and realized upon getting in the van that we hadn't paid for a $2 bathroom mat. We sat in the car for like 5 minutes talking about whether we were gonna back in and pay for it. What's a couple bucks right? Who cares? He went back in. Oh Jiminy Cricket!

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