What was your
first taste of
adulthood?
You might not have even noticed when it happened, but it did. That moment where you experienced what it felt like to be an adult for the first time. It probably wasn’t even permanent. Just a fleeting sensation of maturity/responsibility/getting away with something.
Maybe it was something illicit like your first drag from a stolen cigarette, sip of alcohol or glimpse of porn (remember when it was actually hard for kids to come across naked pictures of people doing it?) or maybe it was your first time babysitting and being in charge or being given a special responsibility. It could have been your first job. Or maybe it hasn’t happened yet and you’re still waiting.
For me, it was the first time I was left alone by myself for a significant amount of time. My parents were going on a trip to Vegas and my younger brother was sent off to stay at his friend’s house, but I was deemed self-sufficient enough–at 13–to stay at the house by myself. I was given more money than I ever had before to feed myself and stay entertained. I rented movies and bought pizza and generally lived the life I’ve lived ever since. I managed to not burn the house down or inflict any major damage, so the whole experiment was deemed a success and I was allowed to stay alone from that point on.
How about you? Can you think back and remember the first time you felt like a grown-up and if it helped predict the adult you eventually became?
I was in 8th grade. Something happened in the Varsity wrestling world- maybe a flu epidemic, perhaps suspensions for curfew, smoking or drugging. I was moved up for an evening match. I’m on the bench waiting my turn & Marty Lyons the senior heavyweight with a chest bigger than big Bob Mitchum’s a beard like a rasp & chest hair exploding out of his singlet sits down next to me. He asks if I’m nervous and I mumble something…. We sit for a while and he tells me… “Look at those girls in the stands. Let me tell you something… Read more »
Put my car in the ditch at 4:30 am one icy night driving home from the bar. Walked home, found the phone book, called seven 24 hour tow trucks before one was working and would come haul it out. Waited, paid him, went to bed around seven thirty. My parents had no idea until I had to explain to them why I wanted to sleep in. Car was fine, miraculously.
When I was 15, I’d saved up (dad matched my savings) to fly to Hawaii where my older brother, who was in the Navy and was stationed with his wife. What was going to be only a couple of weeks tuned out to be almost 2 months. I had a full beard at the time and in the time that I was there; I learned every drinking game known at the time. I hung with adult service men and because I looked a lot older, I was never carded at any bar. I turned 16 while in Hawaii. On my… Read more »