I went on a walk today with PTAMom and one of her friends, Dr.Nurse. When we walked by a house a few doors down, there were kids playing in the yard. It reminded me of a walk we’d taken last year.
I was walking the dogs and PTAMom was going to catch up with me. A little girl was standing by the road while her family packed their cars. She walked up to the dogs and asked to pet them.
She was a cutie.
We were chitchatting, talking about dogs, if she had a dog, if she wanted a dog, those kinds of things. I asked her about the lake, if she liked being at the lake, if she liked to swim, if she liked being in a boat, if she liked sailing.
I introduced myself and shook her hand and started to walk the dogs. I think kids like it when you shake their hands. It’s better than hugging them when you don’t know them. I’d be a little confused if someone just hugged me after I petted the dog.
PTAMom showed up just about then. PTAMom loves little kids and likes talking to them. The thing is that she asks the kind of questions a kid isn’t supposed to answer.
What’s your name?
Where do you live?
How old are you?
Are your parents here?
Where do you go to school?
What grade are you in?
When the little lady was a bit reticent, PTAMom would ask the questions again. The little girl looked up at me and I said, “Mom, those aren’t the kind of questions to ask. Those are kidnapper questions. You always told me not to mention answer those questions.”
She looked at me the way my dogs look at me when they don’t quite understand—head turned a bit, eyebrows up. Toss in a bit of condescension and that’s the look.
I’m pretty sure that she didn’t recognize the irony of her behavior.
When I was a wee lassie, PTAMom got a video for BellyRub and me to watch. It was called Strong Kids, Safe Kids. Henry Winkler was the narrator guy, if I recall properly.
In this video, Henry told us not to talk to strangers. He told us to run away as fast as we could if we thought someone was going to take us away or molest us somehow. He told us to go to a house of a person we knew. He reinforced the message of the commercial that told us not to accept sexual abuse: “Say no! Then go! And tell someone you trust! Say no, go, and tell!”
I had nightmares about people trying to kidnap me. How seriously had I taken this information? Here’s my crazy dream.
I’m walking down the street, I even know which street corner it is. An orange truck, an older one with a rounded hood and round headlights that stare at you, comes by and the guy driving asks me questions like the ones PTAMom was asking that little girl.
I get nervous.
I look around and there’s nobody there. I start to back away when a motorcycle comes driving up and sees the look of terror on my face. He offers to help and gets off his bike. He comes over to me to help, but he picks me up and puts me on the motorcycle. The guy in the truck gets out and gets on the motorcycle, too, and we all drive away.
I’m kidnapped!
I understand dreaming about being kidnapped. I was a kid. Kids dream about those things. What’s interesting is that I was trying to get help and that turned out not to be help at all! I was betrayed in my dream! I doublecrossed myself!
I avoided that corner for years.
The point is that PTAMom had us watch that video and she talked to us about being safe and about not getting taken away or treated inappropriately. (I was afraid of one of my uncles for years.)
After explaining to us what we should be careful of and explaining what kinds of questions we should and should not answer, PTAMom asked those very same questions to the little cutie girl. It’s totally weird. The whole thing makes me raise my eyebrows and shake my head.
What the hell?
I just looked up the video to see if I remembered correctly. Apparently I was a bit more nervous than this guy: Oh man, this video is a classic. I saw this in my Cub Scout troup and none of us could keep a straight face. There is a song about penis and vagina, Henry Winkler as the Fonz talking about private parts, different names you can call your penis or vagina, and John Ritter. This tape was suppose to teach kids about not talking to strangers and such but it taught us really to laugh. This tape is hilarious! FOR PRIVATE PAAAAAAAAARTS!!!!
Posted by dotty at August 2, 2004 08:56 PM