The Wrong Finger Leads to Big Trouble

As a kid...a teenager...and even as an adult, I never liked getting in trouble. Who does, right?  I took it to the extreme..I was a very good kid - I avoided trouble and avoided situations that would get me into trouble. Honestly I can count on on hand my big trouble moments


I was told that when I was a little kid I used to go tell on myself before anyone found out I had done something wrong...and apparently it did lessen the consequences. As I got older there was the possibility of more trouble, but not for me. My Dad was a police officer and we lived in the city he worked in. Pretty much everywhere we went we ran into someone, a police officer. So I just figured it best to stay on the straight and narrow (I left the trouble for my brother).


Not to say I was perfect by any means...I had my moments of course, and this was one of them...


I think I was about ten and my family was having a BBQ at another families home. While the adults where inside, the four kids were outside playing. We stopped and were sitting on the front porch when I said,
"I learned something at school." (I was the oldest of the group, and so worldly.)
"Want to know what it is?"
The boys all shook there heads yes.
As the lone girl of the group I was going to teach these boys something new.


I thrust up my middle finger, and said,
"Do You know what this means?"
Blank faces.
"It means the F-word." I said loudly, my middle finger still up.
I thought I was beyond cool, and the boys were happy to know this piece of information.
They all tried it too.
We went back to playing baseball.


Later that night when we got home, I was called into my room to have a discussion. I was puzzled as to why and was certainly not expecting to get in trouble.


"What were you kids doing outside today?"
"Nothing...playing."
"Is that all?"
"Are you sure you did not do anything wrong?"
"Of course not!" How could they have known I was showing off my middle finger?!
"Well, we saw what you showed the boys." (Oh it could have been much worse!)
"It is not your job to teach anyone those things."
I denied it...
"Who me. I did not do anything. Leonard did it first"


This conversation, which started out fine took a turn...I knew I was probably going to get in trouble, but as soon as I lied, the trouble increased exponentially. Lying was tolerated less that flipping someone off.


Funny enough, I cannot even remember what exactly the trouble was, but I clearly remember the situation. I remember me getting a talking to. I am sure I cried. I am sure I was put on restriction. And I surely learned to never talk loudly in the summer when all the windows are open or "show off" any new tricks in front of big picture windows. hey, at least I learned something!

Did You get in BIG Trouble as a kid? What for?