Ann: Hannah had a little mishap in her car while pulling out of the driveway this morning.Pam: Is she okay?
Ann: Yeah, she’s fine, the car’s fine, but our mailbox didn’t survive.
Pam: A lot of fender benders happen that way. Did I ever tell you how I got grounded because my brother had a fender bender pulling out of our driveway?
Ann: You got grounded? Were you in his car and you distracted him somehow? Were you fighting over the radio station? My sister and I had that problem.
Pam: I wasn’t even in the car. And it wasn’t his car. We only had two cars - mom’s and dad’s. He’d just started driving.
Ann: But you got grounded? Okay, I have to know…
Pam: I was fourteen and he was sixteen and we’d been bickering. I wanted him to drop me by my friend’s house on his way somewhere else. He didn’t want to take the time, and we fought about it.
Ann: I think most siblings fight about that as soon as the oldest starts to drive.
Pam: When he headed out the front door to leave, I followed him, changing my pleas to threats. He ignored me and hopped into my mother’s car and quickly backed out of the driveway. In his
rush, he turned the wheel too soon and backed my mom’s car smack into my dad’s car which was parked in the street.Ann: You’re kidding!
Pam: I was convinced it was divine retribution and was laughing out loud as he got out to check the damage on both cars.
Ann: Wow. Way to show compassion, sis.
Pam: I was taunting him and laughing as he walked back into the house to confess. Moments later he came back outside with my dad, who looked furious, taking huge strides towards the cars while tightening his bathrobe sash.
Ann: So how’d you end up getting grounded?
Pam: Well, my father didn’t quite appreciate the humor of the situation like I did. I was literally rolling around on the front lawn holding my sides from the ache from laughing so hard. My father told me to stop but I just couldn’t. When I kept laughing, he told me to go to my room.Ann: He was pretty mad, huh?
Pam: Yeah. I was weak with laughter but I dragged myself to my room. When he came in later he told me that my brother wasn’t grounded but that I was. Then he gave me this big lecture on how wrong it is to take pleasure in other people’s pain, especially family members. And he ended with the words, “You’re grounded until you learn to show compassion towards your brother.”
Ann: Didn’t you think it was pretty unfair that you were the only one punished when it was your brother who wrecked both family cars?
Pam: No, it was totally worth it! The best grounding I ever had! To this day I still smile at the memory.
Ann: I guess that means you’re still grounded.
2 comments:
I got grounded once for something my brother did. I swear he framed me once because he didn't eat his green beans. He put his on my plate claiming to have eaten his own. Of course, I got in trouble.
Well there was that time when my 15yo best friend, Weeb, wrecked my dad's car on the way to Saint Faith's High School. It was summer time and we were bored so we decided to go "lift weights".
I had had my license probably about 3 months and Weeb had never been behind the wheel of a car . . . so I pulled into Saddleback Park went down a deserted dirt road got out and told him to drive.
We had gone about 300 feet when I suggested that he try the steering. He turned sharply left, then right, left and right again. 'Bout this time I noticed that the butt end of the car was heading the wrong way. We spun around another 180 degrees and promptly removed 260 feet of barbed wire fence. I guess Webb tired of hitting all the fence posts because all of a sudden he turned sharply left and plunged down the 8 foot deep ditch that was now between the road and fence. That's not the worse of it. The man's cattle were loose and wandering places where cows have no business going. The cow's owner, and his family, are out trying to chase down the cows, I setting on the hood of my main ride wondering if I'll ever get to drive again and Weeb? Well, Weeb was all gung ho about going to West Point. His brother had gone to West Point, his daddy and both granddaddies too. Being accepted at a Service Academy is much easier w/o a 'criminal' record (in the 70's teenagers actually worried about such things, imagine), so Weeb is just freaked the *@#!~& out. He's cussing and stomping around like some kinda enraged chihuahua.
My father came, talked to the cops, we got our tickets, Weeb for reckless driving and driving w/o a license and I for allowing the dweeb to drive, doh!
Now the fun part. My father has to drive Weeb home Neither my father or I had ever met Weeb's dad and Weeb is stressed (Annie you KNOW how he is when he's stressed!). Actually the visit with the Colonel, yes Weeb's dad was an active duty Colonel just back from The Nam, went quite well for Dad and I and the only thing I remember the Colonel saying to Weeb was, well I guess you won't be going to West Point. We left right after . . .
Going to traffic court was an ordeal but the Judge, after ordering us to pay what seemed to be a HUGE fine ($50 plus $2 court costs) said that if we'd stay out of his court he'd file our case, "in the circular file", Weeb says, "sir, what is a circular file", at which point my father chuckled, the Judge smiled and said, "the trash can".
The end of a long day in the life of the Weebber.
Next time maybe I'll tell you about the time those amazing teenagers Weeb, Buz, Paolo, Bobo and Betty Joe went to beer can island. Or you can just ask.
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