The Chase
Growing up, when my mom said, “I’m leaving now,” it better have just been an echo because surely your ass was in the car already. If not—well, you were getting left behind. Simple as that. You can probably imagine where this is headed. If you’re picturing me running down the road half naked, trying to catch up to the car, you’d be correct.
Some morning back in the early to mid 90s, I was not in a hurry to get to school. Is any kid, ever? To this day, I cannot recall what I was doing that I couldn’t make it to the car in time. If I had to guess, I was probably painting some cool design on my toaster strudel with the icing because that was the proper way to eat it. But who knows? Or maybe I was having a difficult time deciding which white shirt or navy skort/shorts to wear, even though it was already nicely ironed and laid out for me. Oh, the days of public school uniforms. The decision was hardly difficult. And my mom made it even easier and yet, I still couldn’t figure it out. Apparently I wasn’t the brightest growing up. Like I said—painting my toaster strudel. I’ll just stick with that excuse. I was feeling my creative spirit!
Despite the unknown reason for my tardiness, I still found myself chasing the car down the road, half-naked, in an attempt to hitch my ride to school. I don’t know about you, but trying to hang on to a backpack and get my clothes on while running, is not an easy task. Might explain why I don’t like running to this day. But I was determined. When my mom said, “I’m leaving now”—she wasn’t kidding. There was no way she would leave without me, especially to go to school, right? She called my bluff! It didn’t matter where we were going, she had a point to prove and I missed it. I failed the lesson. Well, maybe not failed, but rather learned my lesson.
Looking back I think it’s funny that my mom was in such a rush to get me out the door to school. She knew a few hours after drop-off, she would get that phone call—“Lydia is in the office again” (Insert all the laughing emojis). Oh, boy! Sometimes she was asked to come pick me up. Other times they made me suffer through the rest of the school day in the office and then some for you guessed it—after school detention. Woohoo—Go me! Now you know why I was never in a hurry to go to school. Didn’t I seem so lovely? I did look cute in that uniform I struggled to put on though.
As I reminisce this childhood memory, I just laugh. I laugh because I can still picture what this event entailed and I can still hear my mom saying, “I’m leaving now” as I likely just rolled my eyes and blatantly ignored her stern offer! Obviously I wasn’t in the car with my little sister because I was too busy chasing down the car but I’m sure it was a real treat for her to witness. The good news—that somewhat embarrassing moment had a lasting impact on my life. I don’t think I’ve been late anywhere since.
Sometimes we learn our life lessons at a young age even at the expense of our own humiliation. My lesson obviously could have been much worse, especially if I was older. I’m thankful however, for my childhood chase because now I’m the adult that’s always awkwardly early for everything. And even though Eric Jerome Dickey is quoted with saying, “early is on time, on time is late and late is unacceptable,” I credit my mom for putting that in my head. Thanks, mom!