Because most philosophies that frown on reproduction don't survive.

Friday, October 26, 2007

The Boring Kid with the Long Leash

Sometimes, some event from the past suddenly resurfaces in memory. As I was sitting her contemplating my lack of any ideas for a post this morning, I recalled a conversation with a long forgotten school friend, not long after my tenth birthday had brought me a much awaited BB gun.

Friend: Wow. A BB gun? Where do you shoot it.
YoungDarwin: In the back yard.
Friend: That's so cool. I want one of these. The first thing I'd do is shoot my sister right in the butt. Do you ever do that.
YoungDarwin: Ummm. No. [Thinking: And that's why I have a BB gun and you don't...]

The fact is, I was always one of those boring "good kids" in most respects. Which is why at ten I got a BB gun, at thirteen I was allowed to buy a black powder revolver and start visiting shooting ranges, at fifteen I was allowed to brew my own wine, etc.

And knowing that I got unusual access because I was boring was one of the things that made it satisfying to remain boring and give my parents few worries. (Other than a tiresome habit of going on for hours about political subjects that didn't interest my mother.)

So if you are possessed of a boring child, make sure that being boring hath its privileges. Sometimes its that quiet, slightly nasty sense of superiority that makes it easy to remain upon the path.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for this admonishment. It may not have been intended as one, but it was timed perfectly for a family issue of ours.
Mark

Rick Lugari said...

What you say rings true. While I wouldn't necessarily consider myself a boring child I was fairly well behaved and received the same sort of perks. That became particularly valuable in high school when I was inclined to be not-so-good at times. But I didn't give my folks much grief, and would do things like call to ask if I could come home late because _____, etc. Of course, my folks shuddered later when they learned how I used some of that freedom. ;)

Literacy-chic said...

Sometimes its that quiet, slightly nasty sense of superiority that makes it easy to remain upon the path.

What a wonderfully quotable sentence you have here! :)