As a Pre-Mothers Day Gift, how about a clarification...

[captain_slinky]

Recently, I made a post here that painted my Mother as some sort of Bar Fly who would abandon her child in a tavern basement for hours while she got loaded.

And since this is not what was intended, here is clarification :)

I am fairly certain that at least one of my parents, if not both of them, were bartending during the party, which would be why my Mom darted for the bar while my Dad delivered me to the basement where there was SUPPOSED to be a Christmas Party for kids. My Dad, who was also on duty, confirmed with the people in the basement that this was where the party was going to happen and that it was okay to leave me there with these adults in charge. It was a simple matter of my parents mishearing or misinterpreting the hours of the Kids Party, which would not really be that uncommon back in the days of no internet or cell phones. Imagine how many social situations YOU would miss if the only way you knew about it was from a vocal IRL exchange?

Being left all alone in the basement for hours was most likely my own perception, as I was quite the little loner. There may have been a few other early kids there that I just didn't notice, and then the majority of the kids were kept outside or upstairs once they had decided to keep the kids out till the party was *ready*. From my memory and point of view, there were no other kids there till suddenly at one point ALL THE KIDS came in at once.

Captain Sea-Tac may have just been legitimately sick and the fog of time has added in details such as the drunken stagger and/or the empty bottle of booze, but the vomit was very real. I remember that moment of watchign him try and figure out what to do with a hat full of vomit *vividly*.

Having to leave just as the party was about to start and my parents bickering about it and insisting "We gotta go" was most likely them trying to figure out who was to blame for getting the hours wrong and trying to decide if there *was* time for them to let me stay and enjoy the party, but they most likely had to gt to work somewhere else right away - an actual PAYING job.

The point of the post wasn't to shame my parents, who did everything they could to make me the happy little kid I always was - it was to try and immortalize the epic time I got to see a local celebrity vomit in his hat and then wear that hat :)

Comments

[hannah easterson (from livejournal.com)]

HEY! We all have parents who, at some point or another, when taken out of context, could sound like absolutely terrible parents. Lord knows my Mom abandoned us by the side of the road once, got us late to school every single day and once beat a car with a tennis racket. The Tennis Racket Story (as it's come to be known) is arguably one of my favorite tales.

But to be fair, Mom also made sure we got good grades, stayed fed on a shoestring budget, and volunteered every spare hour to make sure we were getting an education and a life experience that would shape us into individuals. Kid's tend to make people crazy, but parents can still be pretty awesome.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

I WANT TO HEAR THE TENNIS RACKET STORY!!!!

[hannah easterson (from livejournal.com)]

It’s not quite as funny if you don’t know my mom but basically, particularly at the time, she’s a 5’0 bustly woman who loves birds and is generally very soft-spoken, nerdy, and non-confrontational. At the time she had three little kids and was one of those mothers who wanted to make sure her kids had a clean, family-friendly environment. I have never heard her swear. I was about 7 or so and it was a summer evening, mom and us kids had been going out to play tennis every other night at a park near where I live that has a crummy old tennis area. We were crossing at an intersection when this guy comes ROARING through the red light while we are crossing. My mom, the 5’0 tall bustly woman, in a stereotypical mid-90’s mom ankle-length floral dress, put on the most impressive hulk face I’ve even seen in my life; throws her bag on the ground like a football player spiking a ball, and just takes off after the guy, CATCHES UP TO HIS CAR, and starts wailing on it with her aluminium tennis racket. I mean wailing on it, denting the guy’s trunk, screaming all manner of things...meanwhile the guy driving is, at this point, clearly terrified that a deranged woman is about to start ripping off his tires, and starts speeding even faster to get rid of her. Finally he outruns her, she screams in rage and then, suddenly, she stops, takes a calming breath...turns...fixes her hair, walks back, picks up her bag and keeps walking as though nothing has happened. Needless to say none of us run red lights. Ever.

[aurora77]

That's fantastic!

I can't help but wonder how differently drivers would behave if every pedestrian carried a large, heavy blunt object. XD

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

That's beautiful :)

[lynna12000.livejournal.com]

That is a truly great story. And when you tell it to your kids, it will reinforce the fact that 1) Grandma is not to be messed with, and, 2) Red lights mean STOP. or else.