2.) Hi, my name is ______ and I am an _______.
Hi, my name is Kat and I am an IDIOT!
These days we worry about how easily our kids are lured by faux online friendships and strangers with puppies at parks. I like to consider myself proof, that no matter how hard parents instill rules and fear…you can still fall prey and be a complete idiot.
One of the dumbest things I ever did was decide to take my mom and step-dad’s truck joy riding while they were on vacation.
The call of the open road with friends was too much to resist at the ripe, unlicensed age of 16.
I wasn’t licensed, but I should have been because my friend had been teaching me to drive for months and I did take drivers ed. I failed that class because I couldn’t pass the written tests, but I deserved to pass because I was such a great driver.
That wasn’t the dumbest thing I ever did though.
The dumbest thing I ever did happened after the truck I took broke down on the side of the freeway. My friends and I ran around the shoulder of the road like little lost ducklings.
When an old man pulled over to help, he took a look at the engine and said it was shot. (I had been ignoring a ‘service engine soon’ sign. also dumb.). He offered to take us home.
We all got in his jeep and directed him to my house.
He said he could tow my broken truck back to the house with his son who had a truck of his own, but he could only fit one of us with him.
I climbed back into his jeep by myself.
He took me to his son’s house and the two of us went inside. It was dark, an old version of Godzilla was playing on the tv and his son, with his long scruffy orange beard, was eating his dinner. I sat at the kitchen table and watched him finish eating so that we could go get the truck. There was no small talk. Just me shifting quietly in my seat. Him slurping baked beans and hot dogs.
It crossed my mind that this could have been a bad idea, but I was too concerned about getting caught joyriding to think of anything else. I didn’t look for an escape. I didn’t have a plan of action should one of these men decide to attack me. I felt nervous, but was not at all prepared to fight for my life if need be. I was really just kind of hoping they were going to do what they said they were going to do.
But let’s be honest, they had a teenage virgin sitting in their living room who walked through the front door at her own free will. My parents were out of town and not one of my friends knew where I was. Not even my older siblings knew what I had been up to that day. How long would they have waited to alert authorities if I did not come back? Did any of us bother to write down his license plate number?
The truth is, I WASN’T a dumb girl…not typically. But the fear of getting caught joyriding in my parents car without a license overrode any sort of working brain cell I might have had. I walked right into the lion’s den to AVOID GETTING GROUNDED.
Idiot. Idiot. Idiot!
The three of us climbed back into the truck after the awkward dinner and I sat between the two strange men as we made our way to the freeway. Orange beard driving, his hands brushed my bare legs every time he shifted gears.
They took me to my truck. Roped it up. And drove us back to my house.
I thanked them and paid them with the money my Mom had left behind for pizza.
My friends and I were all relieved that I had not been killed in what very well could have been a Dateline mystery.
And My Mother nearly collapses to the floor in gratitude every time she hears this story. And then she slaps me upside the head as any good mother would. Of course, she didn’t catch wind of the story until years later.
But you know, at least now I have a life experience to impart to my own kids about how there’s nothing they could do that would make me so angry they should willingly go walking into a lion’s den.
Thank God those men weren’t lions.
Dominique Goh says
That’s really scary thinking back on what you did when you were a teenager. Glad that you were safe. I too am writing on this prompt this week .
BalancingMama (Julie) says
Oh my, that’s so scary! I would have a heart attack if my daughter ever did that.
Tina says
Yeah, I’m going to go with your mom’s response. The only thing you had going for you was the fact that you left witnesses waiting at the truck, who might have written down a license plate. You had an angel looking out for you!
Lori says
That story gave me goosebumps! You were so lucky that it was good guys who happened upon you. I wonder if orange beard had kids later and if he told them that story as a “what not to do”. Loved your photos too.
carol says
Oh my goodness, what a terrifying story when you really think about it. It could have turned out another way all together. And yes, your story could have been another Dateline Mystery. Thankfully it was not. I agree, you had the angels watching out for you. This is a lesson for all of us, and just like you said,” there’s nothing they could do that would make me so angry they should willingly go walking into a lion’s den.”
Kimberly says
Oh my friggen beard that I don’t have. That is terrifying. The stupid things we do when we are kids. Luckily you were safe. Sweet ginger.
kelley says
Wow! what a story. I’m glad they were good decent people who were willing to help you out. And I’m glad you lived to tell the tale.
Robbie says
That could have gone really, really bad. I did too many stupid things in my youth…and even later when I should have known better.
Astrid says
Woha, that sure could’ve turned out much worse than it did. I’m so glad you were relatively safe.
Andrea says
OMG!!! It’s amazing what we live through when we are young. When I tell my mother stories like this, she waves her hand away and says, “I DON’T want to hear about it.”
Gigi says
How did any of us make it out of our teen years alive – that’s what I constantly wonder. Our guardian angels were working major overtime.
lady goo goo gaga says
I get a stomachache sometimes when I think of the precarious situations I have put myself in,,,,
Dyanne @ I Want Backsies says
I’m pretty sure (no, I’m positive) that my mother would NEVER hear that story if it had been me.
Jessica says
I have a story similar to this one, too. Ugh, so dumb! But I am glad we both made it out safe! :)
May says
I would come down on you hard if I didn’t have two or three similar “can’t believe I lived to tell that one” stories of my own. They are just so much scarier once you grow up and brain finishes developing!
Jennifer Powell says
People learn from their mistakes and achieve experiences. Although it was a horrible story but in the end, you got a good lesson. :)
mjrodriguez says
Your story just sent shivers up and down my spine. As I read each line deeper and deeper, I knew what was going to happen/what could likely happen. A scene from the movie “The Lovely Bones” come to mind. And there they are again, the shivers. I agree with you that our kids should grow up knowing that they can do nothing so screwed up that they can’t tell us about it.
Kat says
That. is. crazy. Of course my grandparents says that back when they were young there were more people you could trust. Which may be true reading this story! Teenagers are crazy and stupid. I shudder when I think of what I did…..gah! At least now our teenagers want phones….with GPS…..maybe we should just stick a chip in their shoulders!
April Driggers says
I think it’s proof there are still good people in the world… (and dumb kids)…. I try to remember all the dumb things I have done when my sons do something… so that I extend them the grace that was extended to me. Good story!